


death is like music to my ears

by umitsuki



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, Demons, Fae & Fairies, Fluff, Hogwarts-ish, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Trauma, Vampires, Werewolves, in this house we love & support our friends because they deserve it, lots of comfort. lots of love lots of soft stuff, mild bullying, norenmin triangle, racism (species)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 21:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umitsuki/pseuds/umitsuki
Summary: renjun has just transferred to a new, all-boys boarding school for nonhuman students! and then he faces discrimination from some of his peers due to his species. it reminds him of very unpleasant childhood memories.thankfully, his friends and even-more-than-friend(s) help him get through the ordeal with love and support.





	1. enter

“Would you… mind elaborating on this?”

The old grandfather clock of the unnaturally cramped room, covered in live flower vines, ticks at a constant pace. Its noise breaks through the thick atmosphere of silence, inch by inch. It is almost unbearable for the one awkwardly seated in a cushiony antique chair. There is not a single thing in the room that can’t be labeled antique, in fact—aside from the teenage boy.

The boy stares at his elder sitting in front of him. He glances between the formal papers on the mahogany-wood desk and the one patiently waiting for his answer. 

“Death,” is all he can manage to say.

Two blinks—no, three. Dressed in formal beige-colored robes, the man flashes him a perplexed yet curious look in his gold eyes. His soon-to-be principal, named Moon Taeil, has black hair that compliments the eyes well—and are those pointed ears? “What exactly do you mean by ‘Death’? Is it referring to the grim reaper?”

A soft sigh comes from tense, nearly quivering lips of the boy. His ashy, blonde bangs fall as he hangs his head in embarrassment. He doesn’t have a proper grasp on what he ‘is’, either. Trying to explain himself always ends up in jumbled words and confusion. 

“I…” he begins, nervously meeting the bright eyes once again, “Yes, I would suppose so. That’s what I think best fits whatever I am.”

“I see.” Taeil nods his head. “I see… Interesting. Renjun, was it?” He suddenly gets up from his throne-like seat, brushing away wrinkles in the fabric of his clothing. 

“Yes,” responds Renjun, watching as the male makes his way over to a counter in the back of the room. At the same time, Renjun finds himself gazing thoughtlessly at the room as a whole. The place is truly cramped because of the abundance of plants and what seem to be decorations meant for gardens found on every piece of the walls, ceilings, and furniture. It definitely is a pleasing sight to gaze at, but he can’t even imagine spending as much time the principal presumably spends surrounded by so many flowers, leaves and vines. To each their own, he supposes.

At the counter, Taeil grabs a neatly folded pile of clothing as well as a silver badge and returns to the boy. Renjun stands up immediately, accepting the items with a ninety-degree bow and two palms. He gazes at the clothes once he recovers from his deep gesture; it seems that the pile is his uniform. The blazer is dark gray and the trousers are pitch black. Purple, almost lavender color running along the collar and necktie catches Renjun’s attention. 

Taeil holds onto the badge. He raises his hand as though he is about to do something, but pauses. A sheepish smile is on his face as he turns to Renjun. “I seem to have forgotten your surname. Remind me what it is?”

“Huang. Huang Renjun.” The younger is unable to hide his surprise at the principal’s sudden display of forgetfulness; everything about Taeil’s aura is so flawlessly graceful. Renjun feels as if he is in the presence of a deity of some sort. 

Nodding, Taeil raises his hand above the badge once more and with a few graceful movements of his slender fingers, Renjun sees the center of the silvery material morph into a purple color, one matching the hue he noticed on his uniform. When the badge is returned to him, he also realizes that the previously blank spot—the shape of a ribbon etched into the metal—now had his name, Huang Renjun, written on it in neat, even handwriting. He quickly looks to Taeil, who is smiling pleasantly.

“Every student gets a badge. I personally change the color and add their name on it. No one should be able to revolve it or scratch out your name by regular means,” he explains. His attention then shifts to the uniform Renjun is continuously holding. “Your uniform is purple. It’s a lovely color that means many things… but here, it means you are a demon.”

Renjun’s dark eyes widen in fascination. It isn’t as though Renjun was unaware of his new school being a lot more… supernatural than his old high school, but the concept of magic in general still seems so surreal to him. He sort of wishes that he could use such convenient magic, too, instead of…

“Ah, I’m not labelling you as a demon necessarily, but we assumed ‘Death’ would not quite fit in the other categories we have available at this school… I hope this doesn’t bother you in any way?”

“Oh, I don’t mind. I think,” Renjun replies, murmuring the last comment. Truthfully, he doesn’t know if that’s the truth or not, but with an identity as vague as “Death”, the demon label is most likely the best choice for him. Now, though, he is curious as to what the other “categories” are, and before he is able to open his mouth, he hears sharp footsteps followed by a knock on the wooden door. Taeil, after briefly smiling at Renjun, approaches the door and opens it, revealing a rather tall figure donning the same uniform Renjun has in his arms. He has a serious, almost emotionless face, with dark eyes behind round, wire-rimmed glasses instantly noticing Renjun’s awkward presence. The boy nearly shivers. 

“Hello, Principal Moon,” the tall one greets with a polite bow. Taeil raises his arm, dismissing the need to be so formal. When he stands back straight, his eyes appear to narrow at the sight of the shorter Renjun. He feels himself shrink as a response, fearful of this stranger and his air of superiority that he could potentially suffocate on. 

Taeil places himself next to the newcomer and gestures towards Renjun. “Doyoung, this is Renjun, the transfer student I’ve talked to you about. And Renjun, this is Doyoung, the president of the demon students. He may seem cold, but I assure you that he’s very willing to help out his underclassmen when they’re troubled. That, of course, includes you now.”

Hearing this, Doyoung stares at Renjun in silence, delaying by a couple seconds before he offers him a greeting of his own, which is a handshake. As Renjun is the younger out of the two, he carefully returns the handshake while bowing slightly, holding his uniform under his arm to prevent embarrassingly dropping it. He steps back when they break their contact and he meekly glances up at Doyoung. His gaze seems to have softened considerably.

“You read through the papers you were sent, yes?” asks Taeil, smiling at Renjun. “The map and your dorm room?”

“The… Oh! Yes, I have. My room is… 4-1?” The night before his departure, Renjun had taken notes on the elaborate, detailed map that was sent to him by mail. Theoretically, he’s memorized the exact location of his dorm room, but the overwhelming size of the campus is already starting to scare him. 

Taeil and Doyoung nod simultaneously. “Correct. You’ll actually be sharing the same room with Doyoung. We typically don’t allow sophomores to room with presidents, since they have special larger rooms, but it seems like the rest of the demon floor is full. You’re lucky, Renjun.”

Renjun flashes an innocent, mostly forced smile at Taeil, wondering if he really should be considered lucky. 

“Well, then. I believe I’m taking up some precious lunch time, so you may leave now.” Stepping away from the door, Taeil folds his hands behind his back. The time is indeed a little past twelve-thirty, which meant that Renjun has a half hour to enjoy some food and probably attempt to familiarize himself with the school. Doyoung grabs Renjun’s large duffel bag from the floor and, after bowing one last time to the principal, heads out the room. Renjun quickly follows suit.

“Er... I can carry—” the younger says hesitantly, not wanting to make Doyoung haul his heavy belongings the entire time they’re walking.

“It’s alright. I got it.” The taller’s eyes remain on the long hallway ahead of them. His bag remains over his shoulder and doesn’t seem to be moving anytime soon. A small grin appears on Doyoung’s lips as he momentarily faces Renjun. The smile is faint and short-lived but is nonetheless warm and relaxes some of the sophomore’s tense nerves. Maybe Doyoung isn’t as stern and cold as he initially thought.

As they continue walking down the halls, past numerous empty classrooms and up a few flight of stairs, Renjun replays the conversation he had with the principal earlier in his head. Taeil mentioned something about categories that exist within the school and how he was determined to be unfit for all except “demon”. He doesn’t recall seeing anything about this system of categorizing students and distinguishing each other by color of badge and uniform in the papers sent to him, so he glances up to Doyoung. “Could I ask you something?”

In response, the other gives him a rather doe-eyed look of surprise. “Yeah, of course you can.”

“What are the categories Principal Moon told me about?”

“Oh.” A quiet breath is exhaled through his nose. For some reason, he doesn’t appear quite comfortable with the topic at hand. He eyes the purple of Renjun’s brand new uniform, getting lost in his thoughts. “Well… You know one of them—the demons.”

Renjun nods, eager to hear more. Doyoung sighs yet again, making it all too obvious that he would prefer not to talk about the subject. 

“The student body is comprised of four groups: werewolves, vampires, sprites, and demons. You might be surprised at how many of the first two groups exist in this world. Last time I checked, werewolves and vampires each take up forty percent of our school, sprites are fifteen percent, and… demons are five percent.” 

They enter what seems to be a floor dedicated to dorm rooms. The place is eerily silent, aside from Renjun’s and Doyoung’s footsteps that echo throughout the hollow building. 

Werewolves, vampires, sprites… This is Renjun’s first time hearing about these things and he’s at a loss for words. However, there’s something in particular that he finds perplexing, so he asks, “Only five percent? How many students is that?”

Doyoung is reluctant before answering. “60, out of the roughly 1,200 total students.” 

Renjun is truly speechless. So only five percent of the school are people like himself and Doyoung? Just thinking about it sends a strange sense of loneliness to his chest; it pains him, but he reminds himself that it’s still an improvement from the previous schools he attended. He never had anything in common with his peers during years and felt isolated from the world.

Before Renjun can speak, Doyoung halts in front of a door. It’s labeled 4-1, which must mean that this is their room. From a pocket inside his blazer, the senior takes out a bronze key with the proper numbers in purple painted on. The door opens with a slight creak and Doyoung walks in, climbing a ladder and placing the duffel bag on the top mattress of a bunk bed. Renjun steps in as well, closing the door behind himself. The entire space is clean and neat like an unused hotel room, though the open textbooks, sheets of paper with scribbles and highlights as well as half-empty water bottles indicate that it is indeed occupied.

“This is your bed for now. If you want to switch, you can ask Kun later when he’s here,” explains Doyoung, staring at the bunk bed in the far right corner of the room. Across from it is a regular twin-sized bed, presumably one that Doyoung utilizes. He then points to the counter near the door, which includes a sink, stove, microwave, and mini fridge. “This is a little kitchen or whatever you want to call it. We only really use the fridge. Bathrooms are shared with everyone on this floor; it’s down the hall to the left and clearly labeled so I doubt you’ll get lost trying to find it.”

Renjun simply nods. He learned most of these things from the papers he received prior to arriving at the school, but there really is no point for him to interrupt Doyoung. 

Turning to Renjun, the black-haired male smiles. “That’s all I have to say. Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“I haven’t,” he replies, now realizing how hungry he actually is. 

Doyoung checks his watch. “There’s still a half hour until lunch ends. I can take you to the mess hall, but you should change into your uniform first.”

“Oh, right.” Sheepishly, Renjun grins as he looks down at the white dress shirt, blazer and pair of trousers. He swears he sees Doyoung smile affectionately from the corner of his eye, but by the time he glances over, he’s already headed towards the door. 

“I’ll wait outside.” A couple seconds pass. “...Don’t forget your badge.” 

Renjun is fully dressed within the next minute. Heeding the words of Doyoung, he makes sure to pin the silvery badge to the same spot he saw it on his senior—above his heart. Hurriedly, he travels out to the hallway and meets Doyoung, showing him that he’s properly wearing his uniform. The other nods, locking the door.

“Doyoung, what are you?” Renjun suddenly asks, whose face then turns pink in realizing how impolite that sounded. “I—I mean, I…”

A fond smile appears on Doyoung’s lips. “Later. I’ll tell you later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading so far lol  
> hopefully i have you intrigued enough to read the next chapters :~)


	2. the lads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> renjun meets the lads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dialogue in italics indicates a not korean language (either english or mandarin but im sure you'll be able to tell which one it is based on whos speaking hehe)

The mess hall is absolutely crowded when Renjun and Doyoung get there; people are screaming, fighting, and at least one piece of bread is thrown above Renjun’s head. “Is this normal?” he asks while partially shouting. Someone bumps into him and nearly spills their tray of food on him. He apologizes, but doesn’t get an apology back.

“It’s just this floor. Don’t worry, the area I’m taking you to is a lot less rowdy,” replies Doyoung, who is also half-shouting. Not wanting to get lost within the vast room and the crowd, Renjun sticks close to his senior. Just from a quick glance around the mess hall, he can tell that nearly all students are wearing the same red costume and badge. Red… He wonders what category the bright color represents.

In the very back of the mess hall is a large staircase leading up to the second floor. The noisiness of the red-uniformed students drowns out with every step he and Doyoung take, revealing the second floor of, like promised, much quieter students. Majority are sitting properly at tables and having small conversations within their respective groups. A few wearing blue uniforms nearby the staircase shoot rather unwelcoming glances at the sight of Renjun and Doyoung; Renjun figures it’s nothing and ignores their cold stares.

The second floor is just as spacious as the one below. Renjun follows the other as they head to the tables beside what seem to be tall windows that are curtained. Although, generally, students on this floor sit in groups with three at most, one particular table that Doyoung approaches has more. Five, Renjun counts. 

The five boys are chatting with food in their mouths until they notice the senior and turn their heads at him. Doyoung stands behind a person with black hair, placing his hands on his shoulders. “How is my favorite pup doing?”

The person shakes his head shyly. “I told you not to call me that! It’s weird.” 

Renjun watches the elder’s reaction with those seated at the table. He certainly seems rather close with them, maybe even affectionate towards the one with black hair. Unsure what to do, Renjun silently stands in place. For some reason, it feels like… a gaze is piercing holes into him. He tries his best to ignore it; he was being stared at when he first walked in, after all. He’s a new student, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.

“How was the game?” Doyoung then asks, combing the other’s hair with care.

He averts his gaze suddenly. “It was alright.”

“Yeah, if accidentally tearing another ball apart is alright,” a lime-haired boy sitting across from the conversation remarks with an amused snort. The one with black hair goes wide-eyed and holds his half-eaten apple up threateningly. Renjun’s eyes travel around the mess hall aimlessly; the gaze is still there and he gulps nervously. Is he supposed to sit down yet or get something to eat on his own?

“That just shows how strong you are,” Doyoung comments with a proud expression, gently pushing down the boy’s raised arm.

“Coach was about to explode when that happened…” he says with a tired sigh.

“So,” a new voice interrupts loudly, “when are you going to introduce the new demon kid to us?”

The table goes silent. Suddenly, all of their attention is on Renjun standing awkwardly with his hands folded. His eyes shift to the general direction of the voice—the owner of it is smiling, almost smirking, with an elbow propped on the table and his cheek resting on his fist.

“Right now, Mister Impatient,” says Doyoung, crossing his arms over his chest. “This is Huang Renjun. He just transferred here today.”

“Hi, Renjun!” the black-haired boy greets him with a friendly smile, but not just a smile—an eye smile too. Noticing something, he scoots over on the bench and pats the now empty spot besides him. “You can sit here if you want.”

“Actually, there’s a spot here too.”

Renjun looks. It’s the same person who pointed out his presence in the first place.

“Hey, I—”

“Jaemin pushed me!” someone exclaims painfully.

“Huang Renjun? _Are you Chinese?_ ” excitedly asks the lime-head from earlier in Chinese. 

“Guys, shut up,” says yet another unfamiliar voice.

“How about we go around in a circle and introduce ourselves?” Doyoung declares to the table group, loud enough to disturb the peace of other nearby students. “Jeno, why don’t you start?”

The black-haired one shrugs and makes eye contact with Renjun. “I’m Jeno and I’m _not_ a pup like he says. I’m fully grown. Oh, and I play volleyball.” A red badge on his chest is visible. Thinking back to the categories that Doyoung explained to him during their journey to the dorms, he concludes that Jeno must be a werewolf if terms like “pup” are being used to describe him.

“He’s the team’s ace!” someone whispers. Jeno shushes him immediately and gestures to the brunette besides him. 

“I’m Donghyuck, but a lot of people call me Haechan. Feel free to use either one,” he says, giving Renjun a thumbs-up and grinning. His rich brown, perhaps mahogany hair is slightly wavy, giving him a very bubbly look. As Renjun briefly looks at his uniform, he sees a forest green color on his badge. He can’t quite guess what Donghyuck is, since everything about his appearance is pretty “human”. Actually, that goes for all of them at the table, save for one individual with pointed ears. “Chenle, it’s your turn.”

“Okay, but you’re Chinese, right?” Chenle abruptly questions, standing from his seat. Like Donghyuck, his badge is green. The ends of his hair are tinted with pastel lime dye, while the rest near his roots are a light blonde. His hair is tucked behind his pointed ears, which Renjun stares at in wonder. He isn’t sure how to respond but nods his chin anyways. “Yes!” he goes childishly as though he’s won a competition. With a dramatic bow, he continues in Mandarin. “ _I'm Zhong Chenle, and I formally welcome you to our marvelous lunch table!_ ” 

Renjun can’t help but laugh at the silly welcome. “ _Thanks, I appreciate it._ ”

“I’m next, right?” the one sitting close to Chenle asks. He clears his throat and puts down his glass of milk. “I’m Jisung. The youngest and also the tallest out of this group,” he adds with a sly expression. He looks over his shoulder at Renjun. “Taller than you too, probably.” He’s right, it seems—his shoulders are the broadest and the height difference is especially noticeable between him and the Chinese boy. His hair is platinum blonde and its fluffiness gives Renjun the urge to pet it for an unknown reason. He definitely appears older physically, but a close look at his facial features does tell Renjun that he’s still rather young. His badge matches Jeno’s, which must mean that he’s a werewolf as well.

“Boo!” Chenle jeers. 

“That was a little rude, Jisung,” Doyoung warns him. 

“Kids, let’s settle down.” The last to introduce himself has been waiting in the same pose; leaned over the table, his elbow on the tabletop and face resting on his closed fist. Though he seems bored, there is a sly and mischievous sparkle to his eyes. It certainly would explain his sunset-colored hair, a pleasant mixture of soft pink and orange hues. One side of his lips curve upwards, further accentuating his playful aura. He has been gazing at Renjun the entire duration of the introductions cycle out of sheer curiosity. “Hey. I’m Jaemin.”

Jaemin waves his hand lazily. A row of perfectly aligned teeth peek through his little grins while he speaks. He’s the third person at the table with a green badge. Renjun really doesn’t know how to feel about Jaemin, but he definitely makes him nervous.

Out of the blue, Doyoung curses under his breath. Donghyuck gasps offendedly. “I just remembered I was in the middle of doing some errands. I need to leave for now. Renjun, I’ll see you later at our dorm room.”

“Ah, okay… See you later.” Renjun waves his hand goodbye, not noticing the gaped mouths of Chenle, Donghyuck, and Jeno until he glances back to the table. Worriedly, he looks down at his uniform. “Is there something on my clothes?”

“You… You’re sharing a room with Doyoung?!” Chenle frantically asks, nearly elbowing Jisung in the midst of his shock. He apologizes to the freshman quietly while giggling.

“I—” Renjun is interrupted by a tug on his blazer. Looking down, he sees Jaemin pulling on the fabric and tilting his head to the empty spot next to him (which he had created not too long ago by shoving Donghyuck away). “Alright, alright,” says Renjun while laughing softly, accepting the invitation—or rather, insistence—to sit next to Jaemin. While he is carefully seating himself on the bench, he doesn’t notice Jaemin looking absolutely _enamored_ of him. Briefly, Renjun glances to the other, who immediately returns to his lazy grin. Jisung is the only one who is watching this exchange; he scoffs, knowing Jaemin and his Jaemin antics, and turns away. “Yes, I’m rooming with Doyoung. I was told that there aren’t any other rooms available.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Chenle shrugs. “There’s always been issues with demon rooming because their numbers fluctuate so much. By the way…” In his hands, the boy is twirling around a pair of chopsticks. “What species are you?”

All five pairs of eyes are focused on Renjun. He’s not quite comfortable telling about them just yet—he only told the principal because, well, he’s the principal—but would it be odd to refuse? Renjun’s lips press against themselves nervously. Jaemin is closely observing. 

“More importantly, have you decided on what club you’re joining?” Jaemin interjects, changing the subject smoothly. Patiently, he beams at Renjun.

“Club? I haven’t thought about it at all… Do you have any suggestions?”

Donghyuck jumps up. “Choir!”

“If you’re going with music, then orchestra is better,” comments Chenle. 

“I could help if you want to do sports,” offers Jeno. “There’s a lot you can pick from, like track and field, basketball, soccer…”

Renjun rubs his nape. “I’m not a big sports person, unfortunately. I appreciate it, though.” Hearing this, Jeno nods his head, clearly a bit disappointed. “I suppose I’ll decide later.” The others shrug and begin smaller conversations of their own, namely Chenle and Donghyuck arguing whether vocal or instrumental music is better.

The blonde’s shoulder gets tapped. “Renjun, did you have any food yet?” Jaemin inquires. 

“...Oh! I completely forgot,” he exclaims, now flashing a very sheepish look to the other. “I’ll survive until dinner.”

“I can get you something. It won’t take long.”

“No, it’s fine! You don’t have to do that,” Renjun panickedly insists despite Jaemin already rising from the bench. 

Jaemin grins toothily, patting the male’s arm. “It’s no trouble, really. You should at least eat something on your very exciting first day of _fantasy school_.”

“You say that as if I’ve been going to non-fantasy school for all my life.” Renjun stands on his feet as well. “Then I’ll come with you. That’s fair, right?”

The two begin making their way over to the first floor where the food is being handed out by lunch ladies. Jaemin’s head of warm colors distracts Renjun quite a bit, and he keeps staring at the colorful locks until Jaemin catches him in the act. 

“Is it pretty?” he asks Renjun, combing his hair back.

“Very.” They travel down the stairs. “It’s dyed, though, isn’t it?” 

Surprisingly, the boy shakes his head. “Not at all. It’s completely natural.” 

Renjun’s eyes widen; he takes a closer look at the hair, not believing that it could possibly be real. “No way! ...How?”

Since they’re at the first floor by then, the two of them raise their voices considerably. Jaemin leans closely to Renjun’s ear, saying, “Have you forgotten that none of us here are human?”

Renjun frowns. “I’m not used to this.” 

“You’ll learn, my dear Renjun,” says Jaemin while chuckling, putting an arm around the other’s shoulders. They approach the stands where the food is being served, and Jaemin winks at the lunch lady. “Good afternoon.”

“What do you want?” she asks tiredly. Her mask and hair net conceal most of her face, but just from the eyes she appears incredibly young. 

Jaemin glances to the one he has an arm around. “Renjun?” 

“Oh, um...” he trails off, staring at the menu on the countertop. At that moment, someone bumps into him roughly. He looks over his shoulder to apologize, only to be met with an intimidatingly tall student growling at him. Jaemin’s arm tightens, bringing their two bodies closer. “A… chicken salad. To go.”

The lunch lady parts from the counter and returns not long after with a plastic container of the requested salad. It looks like any other convenient store salad. She places it in a bag with a plastic fork and hands it to Renjun, who thanks her softly. Jaemin pulls him away from the counter, heading towards the staircase again. 

“Ignore that kind of stuff, ‘kay?” Jaemin speaks. He’s serious all of a sudden and it sort of scares Renjun.

“What stuff?” 

“The guy bumping into you.” Glancing to the blonde, Jaemin blinks his eyes in thought. “They do that a lot. It’s in their blood, kinda.” 

Renjun looks at him too. “You mean werewolves?” The other nods. “What about Jeno and… and…”

“Jeno and Jisung? They’re exceptions.” Jaemin’s shoulders shrug. “I mean, they’re good people. Most people are.”

“You really think so?” Renjun is a more or less a pessimist to begin with.

“Why not?” His eyes sparkle as he looks out the windows in the near distance, but there’s something oddly rueful about his gaze. “Everyone starts out nice, but sometimes… things just happen. And maybe they’re not so nice anymore.”

Renjun is silent, thinking about his words. He’s never really thought about it that way.

“Oh, I forgot to mention that I’m in art club,” Jaemin says, breaking the silence. Already, he’s returned to his normal—or what Renjun perceives is normal—cheerful self. “And that I can help you join.”

At the mention of art, Renjun immediately lights up. “Really? You’d do that for me?”

Jaemin grins, thoroughly satisfied. “That was awfully enthusiastic. You like art, I’m assuming?” Renjun nods. Art is indeed his favorite subject. He was hoping to enroll in art class when he first planned to transfer to the school, but they were all full to his disappointment. Art club is just as good, maybe even better than art class. No pressure of getting a good grade and total freedom, he imagines. “I got you. Actually… We’re meeting today after fifth period. I can walk you to the art room.”

“That’d be great!” Renjun exclaims, perhaps a little too excited. He pauses to compose himself and (calmly) adds, “My fifth class is literature with Ms. Choi, I think. Could you meet me there?”

“Oh, that’s tough. Ms. Choi is super mean, but then again, you seem like a good student.” Laughing softly, Jaemin pushes back his bangs. “Yeah. I’ll meet you there after class.”

“Okay.” 

For a couple meters, the two sophomores walk up to the second floor and past tables. Some students are putting their empty plates away, preparing to leave the mess hall. 

“Jaemin?”

He looks at Renjun. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.” 

Before Jaemin manages to actually form words, he’s silent and, eventually, he laughs pleasantly. “C’mon, I literally just met you today. Don’t be so mushy.”

Renjun raises an eyebrow. “I could say the same about you. You were staring at me for a while.”

“I—Whaaat? That’s not true at all. Heh.”

Renjun’s eyebrow goes even higher. The bell rings just as Jaemin is about to defend himself a second time. He groans. “Ugh, my next class is all the way across campus… I gotta go. Later, Renjun!”

Jaemin runs towards the opposite direction, waving his hand goodbye. For a moment, Renjun thinks he can see the faint shape of wings on his back. He blinks a couple times and they’re gone. He must just be imagining things.


	3. artsy pants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they go to art club and it’s not a very good time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if its hard to imagine what the school looks like (because im bad at describing things) then honestly just think of hogwarts but more modern

After lunch ends, Renjun attends his relatively uneventful fourth and fifth classes. The two subjects, calculus and literature, are topics that Renjun has little to no difficulty in; he imagines the year will go by like a breeze. Even the mean Ms. Choi that Jaemin warned him about was welcoming (to some degree) to the transfer student. Hopefully for him, this stays the same as time goes on. 

The bell rings, signaling the end of fifth period. Since over three hours of free time until dinner are after fifth period, the students in Renjun’s literature class immediately run out of the room excitedly. Renjun, on the other hand, calmly packs up his supplies, taking a quick glance through the various papers he’s received today. Loud chattering and laughter sounds from the hallway just outside the open door. Renjun grabs his schoolbag and steps out of the classroom, coming face-to-face with a familiar bright face. 

“Renjun!” Jaemin greets him. During the short amount of time he’s been standing in the hallway, a group of students had already crowded around him. Renjun could sense that he’s popular from the start, but to this degree is unexpected. Strangely, the students break away from the crowd just after Renjun approaches Jaemin and leave the area.

“You look pretty happy,” notes Renjun, blinking at the male’s wide smile. 

He cackles overdramatically, raising his arms up in the air. “I got a 98 on my psychology test!” 

The blonde goes wide-eyed. “Really? That’s great! Good job, Jaemin.” Playfully, he rubs Jaemin’s hair as if he’s a dog, grinning. Truthfully, he’s unsure of how difficult the school’s psychology course actually is, but he has a gut feeling that Jaemin is much, much smarter than his friends seem to make him out to be. Either way, he felt like praising the boy after such an energetic announcement about his test score.

“Hey, hey! You can’t do that to your elders.” Shaking Renjun’s hand off, Jaemin narrows his eyes at the other.

Renjun appears offended. “Who said you’re older than me?” He does his best to avoid walking into someone down the busy hallway, yet occasionally someone brushes shoulders with him.

“Me: August 13th. And you, Renjun, are...?” The orange-head looks proud, already deciding internally that he’s the older one.

Scoffing, Renjun replies, “March 23rd. I’m the real elder here, dork.”

Jaemin fakes a dramatic, loud gasp, even clutching his chest until he can’t help but break out into chuckles. He might have just been called a loser, but he’s glad that Renjun is loosening up and more comfortable to joke around. _And it’s all thanks to me,_ he thinks in satisfaction. 

It takes more than five minutes at their casual walking pace to reach the art room. The art club is found in the performing and visual arts section of the building, also including band, choir, theater and the like. As Renjun sees the classroom and the art club students for the first time, his only thought is about how _huge_ the club is. The room itself is extremely large and almost every seat is occupied. Many of them greet Jaemin as he walks in. 

Jaemin leads Renjun, approaching the old-looking man behind the teacher’s desk. Instead of paying attention to the conversation, Renjun peers around the room and meets with multiple dark glances thrown his way. He hasn’t a clue why, but he reminds himself what Jaemin told him during lunch: _ignore that stuff._

“Renjun, you’re in!” exclaims Jaemin suddenly, turning away from the teacher and to Renjun. “Welcome to literally the best club ever on campus.” 

The teacher hands him a sheet of paper, explaining that he needs to sign it and turn it later in order to finalize his enrollment. After Renjun thanks him thoroughly, Jaemin brings him over to the usual table he sits at. A couple seats are empty, a surprising fact considering how full the classroom is. “Have a seat for now. I’m gonna get some supplies.”

Nodding, Renjun sits patiently, hanging the bag from its straps on the back of his chair. Although he is excited for art club, a feeling of great unease overwhelms him. His back, which is turned to a large portion of the classroom, trembles. Cautiously, he glances over his shoulder and notices even _more_ people staring specifically at his uniform and badge. Not only that, but some are whispering to each other as well.

“Renjun? You okay?” Jaemin’s voice interrupts his thoughts. He blinks dazedly and looks up to him.

“Yeah. I’m alright.” Renjun sighs softly and discards his restless expression. “What are you guys doing right now?”

“I am greatly honored that you asked.” Snickering, Jaemin lays out numerous pencils, erasers and a notebook that has “Na Jaemin” clearly labeled on its cover along with doodles of obscure cartoon characters, all done in marker. “So, basically, we all suggest and vote on a theme every two weeks. We make whatever we want according to the theme, though you can choose to do other stuff if you really want to. At the end of the two weeks, we have a little art show and we can nominate each other’s work for really weird awards, like the Your Brush Strokes Look Great When They are at a Fifty Degree Angle award I got last time. This week’s theme is classmates, which means…”

Jaemin flips open his notebook to a page filled with rough sketches of Jeno’s face, each from a different angle. The expressions and poses, though, are generally the same. “I’ve been sketching Jeno for the past couple of days during class, but they’re not going very well.” Leaning in towards Renjun, he whispers. “His two emotions are happiness and none-of-the-above—well, except for his third forbidden one.”

His shoulders inch closer to Renjun’s as he laughs loudly; of course, Renjun doesn’t understand what’s so funny and merely looks at him in confusion. “What do you mean?” 

Jaemin makes eye contact with Renjun and leans in so close to the point where their noses almost touch. His pupils are swiftly moving from one part of Renjun’s face to another. The blonde is taken aback, his chin pulling in slightly in caution. “Never make Lee Jeno angry. Never, ever do that, if you don’t want to _die_.”

Renjun might as well start screaming—not because he is scared, but because Jaemin is making absolutely no sense. Again, he snaps out of the trance and sticks his tongue out at the other teasingly. “Relax, I’m just joking.” Clearing his throat, he picks up a pencil and his notebook, flipping to a blank page. “Anyways, what was I was trying to say is that I’m going to sketch you from now—in hopes that you aren’t a happy little robot like Jeno, of course.”

Now Renjun is worried. He doesn’t mind Jaemin drawing him, but he would start caring about his appearance and posture a lot more than he usually does. “Why do you want to sketch me? I’m not that interesting either.” 

Jaemin shrugs nonchalantly, checking the tip of the pencil. “Because you’re pretty.”

Renjun freezes. He has never been good at dealing with compliments people give him, whether it be about appearance, his achievements or little doodles of Moomin. What even is he supposed to do? Say thank you? Return the compliment by saying how cute Jaemin is? In the end, he decides (subconsciously) to sit there in awkward silence. Little does he know that Jaemin has been watching him for the past couple of seconds. Very slowly, a large, toothy smirk appears. 

“You’re weak to compliments, aren’t you?”

“Wha—don’t say that out loud!” Renjun hurriedly hushes the other, panicking. He can already feel his face growing red and, giving up on trying to subdue Jaemin, he covers his face with his palms and hunches over the table. 

“Aw, you’re that embarrassed?” Jaemin coos to the blonde’s horror, giving him a gentle rub on the back. Meanwhile, Renjun is shaking his head in denial. 

Eventually, Renjun rises from his hands and fixes his hair with a deep, long sigh. Jaemin has already caused so much stress for him in the mere hour or two they’ve known each other for. He starts to seriously question if he can survive an entire year of this. Resting his chin atop the back of his hand, he places his elbow on the table. 

“Wait!” Jaemin urgently calls out. “Hold that pose, it’s perfect.”

Renjun scrunches his nose. “You’re already starting?” Glancing down at Jaemin’s notebook, he could see the other’s hand sketching the outline of his face. It doesn’t take long for the full drawing to be complete, which is awfully simple and messy but the more Renjun gazes at it, the nicer it looks. “That was… fast.”

“God hand right here.” Winking, Jaemin lifts up his right hand and points to it with his left. “I got you some paper too, by the way. I don’t know if you can get other materials like clay or paint for this theme, but you’ll definitely get the chance next time.” 

Nodding, Renjun grabs a sheet of paper and a pencil, but without any ideas his hand remains still. He taps his pencil on the paper, looking down at the blank sheet. Briefly, his eyes shift towards Jaemin’s direction. He’s moved on to do another sketch of Renjun, this time his staring-at-a-blank-paper pose. Figuring it’s better to let him focus, Renjun stays still and instead glances around the room.

“...with _Jaemin_? Really?” Someone standing behind Renjun is murmuring, having a conversation with two other people. Renjun’s shoulders tighten and he cowers, trying to make himself smaller. 

“...probably brainwashed him…”

“...I know right! Their kind are so…”

“...can never trust them…”

“ _Huang Renjun, go back to planet nowhere! You don’t belong here!_ ”

_The sound of his elementary schoolmates picking on him—it was all too familiar and too unpleasant. They knew Renjun was different; they had no explanation for it, but they just knew. And kids liked to make fun of things for being different._

Renjun sweats nervously. His foot taps impatiently on the floor and his head hangs low. It isn’t as though he’s specifically heard his name spoken, but he can just feel that those students are whispering about him. He hates this feeling; he thought he had gotten over it since leaving his old school. Clearly, he was wrong. He’s only seconds away from bursting out of the classroom, the unpleasant sensation growing like dark storm clouds in his mind—until, that is, someone gently grabs his arm.

“Let’s go get something to drink.” Renjun looks up to see Jaemin on his feet, tugging on his arm with a smile. The other grabs Renjun’s bag for him too. “C’mon. It’ll be on me.”

Reluctantly, he gets up from his seat and allows Jaemin to drag him away from the classroom. He looks back on impulse and sees three students standing near the chair he sat in, quietly staring at him as he’s brisked away. The fresh air of the hallway invites his body to take some deep breaths, and so he does.

“Take it easy, Renjun,” he hears Jaemin reassure him in a quiet voice. 

He’s right. Suppressing the urge to break into tears, Renjun puts his palms on his face and pats his cheeks, demanding himself to quit troubling Jaemin any longer. “I’m sorry, I just…” 

Jaemin’s eyebrows furrow for a short moment out of concern. “I get it. It’s alright. Just stop thinking about it for now, ’kay?” 

Sighing, the blonde nods his head. The events at the art room persistently replay themselves in his head, as much as he’d like to forget about them. But what’s so curious is that Jaemin dragged him out of the classroom at an impeccable timing—Renjun would’ve made an embarrassing scene if the other hadn’t stepped in like he did, pulling it off as a simple excuse to get drinks. 

Students are spread out around the wide campus as, of course, it’s free time and they’re allowed to do whatever they want (except leave the campus without permission, obviously). Most classrooms the duo walk by are open and some students are diligently studying indoors. Others are standing around the halls and open grounds, chatting amongst their groups of friends. A couple dresses in various sports uniforms holding their equipment are also traveling down the school’s pathways. 

“I’m really tired all of a sudden,” Renjun complains, putting a hand on his forehead and shaking his head. In the expectation that he was actually going to be at school on time, Renjun woke up at five in the morning to be fully prepared. What he didn’t realize at the time, though, is that getting to fantasy school from his not-fantasy home was _hard,_ despite detailed instructions from the staff he received beforehand. And, thus, he reached his destination a little past noon. 

Jaemin hangs his arm over Renjun’s shoulders. “I feel you. You should have some caffeine,” Jaemin, a caffeine addicted 16-year-old, suggests. 

“Yeah.” Renjun truly is tired after that rollercoaster of (mostly negative) emotions, almost having the urge to doze off right there and then. Instead, though—because that would be a big issue—his head leans onto Jaemin’s taller shoulder, maintaining the pose as they walk. Renjun gazes into the distance, eyes slightly lidded in drowsiness. 

Jaemin gazes down towards the sight of Renjun resting against his shoulder, almost resembling an angel. Surprised at the other’s pure appearance, he flicks his eyes away in quick succession and covers his mouth for a couple seconds. Thankfully, Renjun doesn’t seem to have noticed him hiding the bright color of his face. 

_Huang Renjun, you really are doing things to me..._ Jaemin shakes his head dismissively, combing his fingers through his locks in attempt to ignore his thoughts. 

The cafe is just in view, only a couple meters ahead of them. It’s like one of those mall cafes with an area in front reserved for small tables and chairs. Next to and across the cafe are other small shops for basic needs. Renjun recalls reading about the fees for school; the cost for basic meals, rooming and whatnot were either paid for by advance—unless a student is on a scholarship, like Renjun—and additional money spent were added onto bills to be paid at the end of the year. He doesn’t have a lot of money, though, so he convinced himself beforehand to only ever buy what he needed and nothing else.

Not many people are sitting at the tables, but there is a line of five or six waiting to order. The duo position themselves at the end of the line and Jaemin points to the menu above the cafe’s counter. Renjun, by then, is standing up straight and is squinting at the chalkboard menu. 

“What’s your suggestion?” Renjun asks Jaemin curiously, tapping the center of his lips.

“The most popular ones are probably milk tea or just regular iced coffee.” He makes an “I’m not really sure” gesture at the boy. 

“Then…” he pauses to contemplate. “I’ll just have a jasmine milk tea.”

Jaemin gives him a thumbs up. “Got it. Do you mind getting a table for us?”

“I’ll go do that.”

Parting from the line, Renjun travels over to the seating area and finds an empty table in the corner, sitting in one of the two chairs surrounding. With a sigh, he rubs his eyes and sits back in the chair. 

A minor commotion is happening in the line. Renjun looks over, seeing one student in purple and two in blue facing each other. They stand just in front of Jaemin who has his arms crossed. Even though the blonde could only see his back, it’s a no-brainer that Jaemin isn’t enjoying whatever he’s being forced to watch.

The one wearing a purple uniform is mildly shoved out of line. He is visibly upset as he storms away from the cafe, while the other two are cackling amongst themselves. 

Renjun frowns.

_Would that have been me if I weren’t with Jaemin?_


	4. just a lovely little bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> renjun talks to jaemin AND jeno. and also jisung, moderately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell i’m horrible at summaries yet

Not long after, Jaemin joins Renjun at the table with the two drinks in his hands.

“Thanks,” says Renjun with a smile at the other, accepting the drink and taking a small sip. It tastes like standard jasmine milk tea, if he were to be completely honest.

“No problem.” Jaemin winks at Renjun and starts figuratively inhaling his pitch-black drink, which the one watching assumes to be coffee.

Still, Renjun is curious and blinks at him. “What is that?”

While making a sound of question, he pulls the straw away from his lips and holds the plastic cup, stirring its contents around gently. “Just espresso.”

“Huh.” A couple seconds past before Renjun finally comes to realization. His eyes widen in pure shock, seeing the normal-sized plastic cup Jaemin holds. “Did… did you say espresso?”

Jaemin laughs; clearly, it’s not the first time someone became speechless at the reveal of his drink. “Hey, it’s not that big of a deal.” 

“ _‘Not that big of a deal’?_ Jaemin, are you insane!?” questions Renjun in the loudest voice he’s ever released that day, his mouth gaped open. 

“Renjun, I’m literally a fairy! Do you honestly think this _baby juice_ right here is gonna kill me or something?” responds Jaemin between his joyful giggling. He takes yet another sip of his drink, this time purposefully making eye contact with Renjun, who still hasn’t gotten over it. But he does calm down and lower his voice because now he has another unrelated question. And, also, the term “baby juice” sounded really gross to him.

“You’re a fairy?” 

“No, actually,” Jaemin answers, grinning with the straw between his teeth, “I just like calling myself one. It sounds magical.”

Renjun is quiet for a moment, staring blankly at the other’s green badge. “Then what are you, if not a fairy?”

Mischievously, Jaemin shuts his eyes, placing down his cup and holding his index finger up for Renjun to see. He leans in slowly, causing the blonde to feel compelled to also lean in, and whispers in his ear. “I’m a bird.”

Cupping his face with his palms, Jaemin flutters his fingers around as Renjun is completely unmoving, looking quite a bit unimpressed.

Eventually, Jaemin gives in and pushes his palms towards the boy. “Alright, alright, fine. Jeez, you’re scaring me…” he murmurs, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m a siren. And no, I’m not joking this time.”

Renjun tilts his head to the side in wonder. “Like the… mermaid?” 

Jaemin fakes a distressed expression and clutches his head. “Oh, no! Not you, too, Renjun…!”

Visibly confused, Renjun decides to wait until Jaemin starts acting normal again, which happens just a few seconds after the blonde gives him a cold stare. 

“Most people use siren and mermaid interchangeably nowadays—especially if you’re not either one of them.” 

Renjun raises his eyebrows. “So you’re not a fish.”

Bringing his hands up to his shoulders, Jaemin makes a whimsical face as he flaps his hands around as though imitating wings. “I’m just a lovely little bird, unfortunately.”

A bird… Thinking back to when they were in the mess hall, Renjun did see (or most likely imagined) faint wings on Jaemin’s back. This would explain that vision, but still, how did he know at that time? 

“Sirens are originally birds, then?”

Jaemin nods while sipping on his drink, raising his index finger in a matter-of-fact way. “Half-bird, half-human creatures to be exact. My true form has wings the same color as my hair. I also have bird feet but, uh… let’s not talk about that.”

Simply trying to picture the image of Jaemin and his undoubtedly attractive wings brings sparkles to Renjun’s eyes, who nearly lunges over the table and grabs Jaemin’s hands. “Can I see your wings, Jaemin? _Please?_ ” he practically begs. 

At that very instant, a strangely uncomfortable look overwhelms Jaemin’s face as he shakes his head in refusal, pulling his hands away from the other. “I—I can’t. It’s… against school policy.”

Something tells Renjun that the reason is beyond “it’s against school policy”, but figuring that it’s a sensitive topic, he doesn’t mention it again out of respect. Jaemin nervously takes the longest sip of the espresso he’s ever had, consequently finishing the entire cup. 

After Jaemin first displayed his discomfort about his wings, they go on talking for a while. They had resumed their conversation, the subject changing from their favorite animals to why communism is, in theory, a good idea but always executed poorly. Time flies by rather quick as the two are in their own world, enjoying each other’s company. Renjun even got to open and finish his chicken salad from earlier in this duration. 

“What time is it?” Jaemin asks Renjun, after a minute or two of silence between them, in hopes that he has a watch on or something of the sort. 

“4:07,” Renjun recites almost immediately and without referencing any sort of device. He could have also mentioned the second of when Jaemin asked, but that was probably going too over the top.

It’s very obvious from his large eyes that Jaemin is taken aback. “Alright then, Human Clock.” This earns him a proud smile from Renjun. “Wait, you said 4:07?”

Renjun nods. Jaemin shoots up from his chair with an urgent look on his face, and this time he’s being serious. “I’m supposed to meet up with someone at four! I’m sorry, Renjun, but I really need to go.”

“It’s alright, I understand. Have fun, I guess?”

“Thanks! Also, meet us at our table for dinner!” shouts Jaemin while he runs at full speed, soon turning a corner and disappearing from the blonde’s sight. 

Now that Renjun is alone, he goes over the things he could do during the two or so hours left until dinner. He narrows his choices down to either finding somewhere to catch up on assignments and textbooks or to explore the campus, fully familiarizing himself with the spacious building. It doesn’t take too long for him to go with the latter, figuring that the work he had to complete isn’t very time-consuming and could be done at night. 

Renjun grabs his bag, taking out a neatly folded map of the school. It has all sorts of markings and notes on it, indicating the most important places and rooms of the campus. Since the cafe is already on the ground floor, Renjun decides to take a walk around the rest of the floor and eventually to the fields. Hanging his bag on his shoulder, he rises from his seat and tucks in the chair politely before walking to the halls. 

Majority of the rooms found on the first floor are places that the staff occupy, including the principal’s office. There are also lounge rooms, stocked with simple drinks, snacks, and forms of entertainment, that students have unlimited access to. These hallways are generally popular places for students to loiter in because they’re so spacious and act as a direct pathway to the outdoors. Lots of students seem to prefer being outside; they tend to relax under the shade of trees or play sports and other games with their friends. 

As Renjun is taking his stroll around the area, occasionally glimpsing down at his map, his body suddenly shivers. An unpleasantly familiar sensation creeps up his body and he looks up from his sheet of paper. Students, a mixture of green, blue and red, standing against the wall or sitting on the floor are staring, their antagonistic eyes following the image of the anxious Renjun walking by. He walks a little faster, trying to escape from their hostile looks. Unfortunately, his fast walking only catches their attention more as he travels further down. 

Renjun attempts to tell himself to calm his nerves and ignore the others. Jaemin or anyone else he knows isn’t around to help him not feel as uneasy as he does now, so it’s likely best for him to move on as quickly as he can. And so he walks, nearly jogs down the hallway—on the opposite end is a door leading to the sports area outside. Maybe there he could be liberated from the suffocating glares from the students.

The hallway almost seems to stretch for an eternity for the panicking Renjun, who is shutting his eyes and practically running to the door. The unbearable experience of being stared at and whispered about simply resurfaces old memories he’d rather not remember—just like in the art room not too long ago. _Please stop…_ he begs to no one in particular, glancing down at his fast-moving feet.

Renjun nearly slams into the door, shoving it open and stepping outside. The air, as expected, is light and eases the boy’s nerves. He sighs, slowly walking away from the building and towards the grass field. 

Beyond the lush grass is a large track as well as courts for basketball, baseball, tennis and the like. Not too far away is also what appears to be a gym, stadium, and swimming pool. The people who are occupying these places are all wearing different uniforms, presumably depending on their sport, and are coded with the same four colors as their regular uniforms are. 

As Renjun steps foot onto the grass and approaches the track, he notices that most of the students there are wearing red clothing, though the type of uniform varies. They all are either running or exercising to their own accord, and Renjun suddenly has the desire to watch them. He is fascinated by their athleticism that he so tragically lacks. 

Trees are found next to the track, acting as a border between the manmade track and the natural grass. Though the weather is nice and sunny, Renjun wants to avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight. The shade the trees provide look pretty comfortable to him, so he makes his way to a large tree next to bleachers facing the track. He drops his bag besides his feet and leans against the tree trunk, placing his palms on the trunk behind himself.

A calming breeze blows by while Renjun watches some people run across his view. He takes a couple deep breaths, gradually losing the anxious feeling that had threatened to take over. Like usual, being outside is the best way to forget his worries and clear out his troubled mind temporarily; at previous schools, Renjun would typically run to the rooftop and relax there, accepting the later punishment for dashing out of class.

“...jun!”

Renjun looks around but assuming he misheard, ignores the shout.

“Ren...un!”

This time he’s almost certain that someone is calling his name. Glancing around and behind himself, he tries to spot anyone vaguely familiar.

“...Renjun!”

From the track is a black-haired individual jogging up to the tree Renjun stands under. A closer look of his very cute eye smile gives his identity away immediately.

“Hi, Jeno.” Renjun waves his hand at him, the other waving back enthusiastically. He stops in front of the blonde and is panting lightly. 

“Hey! I didn’t think I’d see you here.” Judging from Jeno’s uniform and messy hair, Renjun can guess that he’s been running on the track. His uniform is specifically a short-sleeved jersey that’s mostly red, with smaller sections of white and black. The front simply has a large number five on it while the back has the same number and his full name, Lee Jeno. He wears a pair of black shorts that display his slender, toned legs. 

“I’m not really sure why I’m here, either,” Renjun admits, rubbing his nape. “I’ve got nothing to do. You seem busy, though.”

Jeno grins, glancing at the other rather shyly. “Today’s practice got cancelled and I don’t have anything else to do, so I figured I’d just run some laps.”

“I see,” the other replies, nodding his head slowly. He double-checks the current time and compared it to when fifth period ends, though, and appears shocked. “You’ve been running for an… hour? Without stopping at all?”

“Well, yeah. It’s not a big deal,” says Jeno with a shrug, hopping in place with a smile. “I have a lot of stamina. I could run for hours on end, really.”

Renjun is just about to faint (only mentally). He rubs his forehead in reminder of Jaemin with his espresso, cursing these abnormal two and their ‘not a big deal’ reasoning. “Sometimes, I think I really belong more with humans and not you monsters.” 

“Hey.” Jeno looks a little hurt at the sudden name calling. Realizing his mistake, Renjun makes a tiny half-grin and glances at the athlete apologetically. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” he tells Jeno, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You can, ah, continue your laps if you want. I’m just here to watch and… waste time.”

“Can I join you, actually?” suddenly asks Jeno, his face brightening up almost like a light is switched on. “I’ve definitely exercised enough for today. We could go find somewhere to hang out? Oh, I could show you my room, too!”

Renjun fully understands why Doyoung calls the boy a pup. Everyone about his mannerisms and way of speaking simply screams, well, _puppy_. Pure and energetic, the aura surrounding Jeno is significantly different from the playful, even flirtatious Jaemin that Renjun had spent some time with. 

The athlete’s smile is highly contagious and somehow causes Renjun to be filled with warmth all of a sudden. He brushes away some of his golden bangs, sheepishly returning the other’s expectant gaze. His canine teeth show through his parted lips, resembling a very un-threatening pair of fangs. Jeno finds it endearing. “That sounds like a plan,” he agrees, nodding.

“Yes! Okay, come with me to the locker rooms!” Jeno declares, not letting the boy have a chance to speak before he grabs his hand and runs to said locker rooms. He’s considerate enough, though, to not sprint at full speed, knowing very well that Renjun couldn’t possibly have the same athleticism as a wolf like himself. Renjun is also a bit embarrassed at the hand-holding, especially around so many wandering eyes. He wonders if Jeno is too, or if he’s the type of person to do these sorts of things naturally.

What Renjun can only assume are the locker rooms is a separate building in close proximity to the gym. Not many students seem to be using it at the current moment. “I just need to go change and grab my stuff real quick. I’ll be done in five!” assures Jeno, saluting the boy as though he’s a soldier and disappearing within the building’s doors. 

Renjun ends up standing off to the side of the main path, not wanting to get in anyone’s way. As promised, Jeno returns to the other in under five minutes—roughly three and a half, Renjun counts—and they begin the journey to the werewolves’ dorm area.

Right from the start of the two traveling, Jeno initiates a conversation between him and the transfer student. It’s evident that the black-haired boy is eager to learn more about Renjun and share some things about himself, something he wanted to do in the mess hall when they first met but missed out on. Jeno doesn’t admit it himself, but there was a subtle feeling of jealousy when he saw Renjun gaining curiosity for his siren friend, Jaemin. He only stopped himself from interrupting those two’s interaction because he didn’t want the new student to be overwhelmed or anything. 

“So how’s school so far?” 

“It’s… interesting,” mumbles Renjun, not capable of coming up with a better answer. 

Jeno looks at him. “Is that in a bad or good way?”

Gazing up to the sky, Renjun thinks silently for a few moments until he lets out a sigh. “Both.” The other nods understandably. Though he’s supposed to be leading Renjun, he accommodates his pace to match the shorter’s so they can walk side by side. “I thought maybe I’d fit in more at a school like this… and I do think this is better than my old school, but…”

Jeno is holding his breath, waiting to hear what he has to say. From the sky, Renjun’s gaze shifts over to the other. 

“...I don’t really know. There’s still the same feeling of being an outcast. I guess I set my expectations too high to begin with.”

A couple seconds of silence pass by as the two continue down the path to the main building. Jeno is peering down at his feet in shame, knowing the exact reason why Renjun would still feel as though he’s being ostracized by his peers at this school. He refuses to touch on the subject so instead, he switches the topic. “What do you think of us? Me and the others you met during lunch, I mean.”

“You guys seem nice—especially you, Jeno,” responds Renjun with the slightest smile. “You really are like a happy little puppy.”

A bright hue washes over Jeno’s handsome facial features and he frowns, making a small pout with his lips. “I’m not a puppy! Like I said, I’m fully grown!”

Renjun laughs, almost stumbling into Jeno’s body. Thankfully, he’s strong and stable on his feet so he prevents the shorter from falling over. “It’s only your behavior that’s puppy-like. Doesn’t matter if you’re super big and scary as a… wolf?”

Jeno tries to maintain his frown, but watching Renjun and his rather affectionate eyes causes him to similarly break into a smile. The other has a soft, heavenly face that the black-haired boy could never truly get angry at. “Believe me, I’m one of the scariest looking here. My coat is as black as the night and I have bright, golden eyes that stare right into your soul…” Jeno explains like he’s narrating a story, circling his hands around his own pair of eyes. They’re dark brown, but Renjun imagines that gold irises would look rather fitting as well. 

“And that’s why your hair’s black?” asks the blonde, a snaggletooth sticking out from Renjun’s mouth cutely. 

“Yeah! All us werewolves have matching hair and fur color,” Jeno answers while glancing up to his head of black hair, running some strands between his fingers. “So you’ll know what someone looks like as a wolf just by seeing their hair.”

“What if someone dyes their hair?”

Jeno, shaking his head, explains, “We consider that really disrespectful. We’re a proud species—dying your hair implies that you’re trying to hide or denounce your roots. Well, rebels do exist, but they’ve probably been disowned by their family or something…”

Unexpectedly strict. Renjun purses his lips in thought, looking off to the side. Each time he decides to glance back at Jeno, who is facing forward, the boy notices and turns to Renjun. The longer the two of them end up staring into each other’s eyes, the shyer they get and eventually they laugh it off. _“What?” “Nothing!” “Then why were you looking at me?” “I don’t know—there was a bug on your nose?”_

It only takes a minute or two after entering the main building of the school for the duo to reach the floor of the werewolf dorms. Before they did, Jeno hung a large (clean) towel over Renjun’s shoulders and wouldn’t explain why. 

The area is nothing different from the dorms Renjun first went to with Doyoung structurally. There definitely are, though, a _lot_ more people compared to the empty and dead silent halls of the demon floor. Now that he thinks about it, he can believe the statistics of the students Doyoung told him about earlier—that only sixty out of a thousand students were demons—because he frankly can’t remember seeing more than five students wearing purple the entire day. 

The further Jeno guides Renjun down the hall, the more crowded it becomes. A lot of the students walking in and out of open doors or standing against the walls seem to recognize Jeno, giving him a pat on the arm and saying hello. Almost all of them turn their heads to Renjun, their noses twitching. They don’t seem particularly bothered by the blonde’s presence, which may or may not be thanks to the towel over his shoulders. 

Jeno pulls open a door as though expecting it to be unlocked (and it is), letting Renjun step inside first. The interior and layout of the room is essentially the same as the one he’s staying in, except it is notably less spacious. There are two bunk beds, all four beds being covered in clothes and school supplies, and one bottom-left is currently occupied by a familiar silver-headed boy. He’s busy jotting things down in what looks like a journal when he speaks without glancing up from the paper, “Who’s that?”

“Maybe you’d know if you actually look this way, Jisung,” Jeno replies with a roll of his eyes, throwing his bag onto the bed across from the freshman’s. The silver-head peeks at the entrance to see Renjun standing politely, wondering why Jeno’s towel is over his shoulders. 

“Oh. No wonder it smells funky,” Jisung comments casually, wrinkling his nose around like a mouse. Renjun isn’t sure if that was supposed to be an insult or not, but from the way Jeno is narrowing his eyes at the younger disapprovingly, he decides to treat it as an insult.

“He’s a good person, I swear,” says Jeno in regards to the mildly rude freshman, who snorts and goes back to doing whatever with his pencil and journal. “Sit here, Renjun.”

As Jeno scoots over to one half of his bed, Renjun comes and sits beside him. His hands are folded in his lap while the other’s back flops onto the mattress. “I might’ve asked you already, but what do you think of my friends and I? Like, your first impression of each person.”

“Um...” Renjun trails off in thought, staring down at his fingers. “Well, the only people I’ve really talked to so far are you and Jaemin. I’m not sure what I think about the others yet, but they seem… lively? I appreciate them letting me sit with them, though.”

“Don’t even bother with Jaemin—you’re just going to make Jeno mad,” the youngest suddenly cautions. 

Confused, Renjun looks back and forth between the two werewolves. The black-haired one takes in a deep breath and pretends to ignore what was just said. “Why, exactly…?”

Jisung blinks his eyes at Renjun. “He’s jealous that you and Jaemin are getting along. He wants part in it, duh.”

“And because that’s not true, I think Renjun should pretend he didn’t hear that and continue with what he was going to say before being so _rudely_ interrupted.” Jeno puts his hands below his head like a pillow, shutting his eyes. 

_Jeno seems really attached to Jaemin..._ Whatever the situation is, he feels that it’s too personal for him to be involved in any of it. He rubs his arm meekly as soon as he begins talking about Jaemin and the others; he never really liked talking about people when they weren’t around to listen in general. “Jaemin is… interesting. He seemed easy-going and careless at first, but he’s actually been… really helpful to me, like he’s determined to have me enjoy my time here. He’s also really touchy?”

“Pfft. That’s Jaemin for you,” Jisung remarks amusedly. 

Renjun’s gaze remains locked on his fidgeting hands, and Jeno watches from the corner of his eyes as he opens his mouth again. “I feel like he’s good at reading people too, if that makes sense.”

Jeno nods. “Sprites tend to be emotionally sensitive. They can easily tell what other people are thinking but at the same time, they’re kinda…” He scratches his head, trying to search for the right way to form his thoughts. 

“Their emotions get the better of them.” 

“Yeah… Yeah.” Slowly and with a groan, Jeno pushes himself off of the bed and sits with his back hunched over. “Like, with Jaemin it’s obvious when he’s upset. He can’t hide it at all. He’s rarely ever upset but when he is, it’s bad.”

Renjun’s mind returns to the moment at the cafe with Jaemin; though it was just for a short moment, when he was questioned about his wings, the pink-headed boy clearly came up with an excuse to dodge the subject. 

With all of these thoughts running through his head, in addition to other certain experiences that stressed him out greatly, exhaustion invites Renjun to rest. He’s tired. His body loses its energy to stay upright and so it leans to Jeno’s direction, resulting in him resting upon the other’s shoulder. “You okay?” he hears Jeno murmur softly.

“Just tired. Didn’t have a lot of sleep last night...” Jeno replies with a ‘mm’, making sure to not move around too abruptly.

“The only time I’ve seen him _that_ angry was spring break… that was a mess,” mutters Jisung, still not bothering to take his eyes away from his paper. He flinches once the elder shushes him angrily.

“I told you not to talk about it around other people! We made a promise, remember?” Jeno’s eyebrows are furrowed as he sternly glares at the other, his voice hushed. 

Eyeing Renjun, the youngest tilts his head to the side. “He didn’t hear it.”

Perplexed by Jisung’s claim, Jeno glances down at the one resting on his shoulder. Judging from his closed eyes and gentle, rhythmic breathing, Renjun is fast asleep. Panicked, Jeno’s eyes scream ‘what do I do’ at the silver-haired boy, who in turn annoyedly mouths ‘just stay still if you don’t want to wake him up!’

A nervous exhale escapes through Jeno’s lips. He sinks into the bed and, without having anything else to do, observes the sleeping Renjun. The peaceful expression frozen on his pretty (in Jeno’s opinion) face as he sleeps resembles a painting, like of a prince from a fairy tale. Jeno can’t help but smile affectionately at the sight. 

Jisung, who happens to be looking at the two, winces in disgust. He expected such a thing to happen—that is, for Jaemin and Jeno to immediately start doting on Renjun—when he first noticed the way those two stared at the transfer student during lunch. However, he wouldn’t have ever thought it would start _this_ early. 

He sighs, shaking his head. Renjun isn’t going to last another month before he gets smothered to death by Jaemin and Jeno’s attention.


	5. i can do this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> halloween costumes have been decided after some bickering. renjun meets kun (and johnny) (and jungwoo) (but most importantly kun) for the first time.

_Just the night before, Renjun couldn’t sleep._

_It happened like usual: a throbbing headache forced him to regain consciousness and he clutched his head in pain. He had gone through this experience countless times, but he could never get used to the headache. Though he could barely breathe properly, he had to head out immediately—even if it was two in the morning._

_He threw on an oversized puffer jacket after dragging himself out of bed. The headache persisted and would remain that way until he finished his duties. A mental clock reminded him that it was precisely 2:04, and that he had less than five minutes to be on time. He opened the window of his second floor room, balanced his feet on the window sill and, preparing himself with a deep breath, lunged into the darkness of early morning._

_Renjun never liked using the mobility he secretly had in order to fulfill his tasks; he hated what he was being forced to do and didn’t want any part of it to be in his normal life. He limited his use of this power as much as he could, but in these situations he had no other option. He could temporarily launch himself off of rooftops and soar through the air effortlessly, travelling vast distances quicker than any car just with his two feet, which he discovered the first time this had occurred._

_The boy closed his eyes when traveling from rooftop to rooftop of the sleeping city. He could sense it—the exact location of the person who was the subject of his mission. Lee Jina. Six years old. A little girl who had been lost for several days. She was cold and starving._

_Renjun landed on a picnic table in a public park. The area was pitch black, but he could see perfectly fine. The little girl was curled in a ball under a tree, trying to preserve her warmth. The sight pained Renjun beyond words. No matter how much he wanted to pick her up and bring her back to his warm home, he couldn’t. She wasn’t meant to live for any longer, and he was terrified of what would undoubtedly happen if he did ignore his duty._

_Renjun took careful steps towards Jina, who noticed his presence by then. She looked scared, yet she also wondered if the teenager was there to help her. She stood up, which needed quite the effort with her weak body, and nearly tripped while approaching Renjun. They looked at each other; one hopeful and the other in despair._

_‘I’m here to help her. I’m here to help her. Without me, she’d suffer,’ he repeated in his head._

_2:09. It was time._

_“Lee Jina,” said Renjun with a grim expression._

_The girl’s eyes widened in surprise. Believing Renjun was going to bring her back to her family, she started to run towards him. She only managed a couple steps before she stopped. She looked confused and tried to reach out to Renjun. In a matter of seconds, she vanished—and so did the headache._

_Renjun shakily sighed. He made his way back home as quick as he could. After climbing in through his open window and collapsing onto his bed, he began sobbing._

_He hated everything about it. He hated death. He hated whoever decided he should be a harbinger of death._

 

 

Renjun is woken up by a gentle nudge. 

“Renjun?”

Yawning and rubbing his half-lidded eyes, he lifts his head up from whatever it was resting on (he doesn’t remember falling asleep on Jeno). He meets Jeno’s eyes, wondering why the werewolf is situated so close to him. The memories start flowing in and Renjun realizes what he’s made the other go through. It’s almost 6:30, which must mean that he had been sleeping for three hours. Embarrassed at himself, his face turns pink and he covers his mouth with his palms.

“I’m—I’m so sorry... I made you sit here for three hours, didn’t I?” he apologizes, fully ashamed. Jeno smiles at him, also sort of embarrassed by the boy’s sudden apology. 

“It’s totally fine! I got Jisung to hand me my textbook and you looked really comfortable, so… really, I don’t mind!” reassures the wolf, stretching his arms. Jisung is standing on the opposite side of the room, combing his hair. He nods in agreement. “But we should head over to the mess hall since it’s almost dinner. Oh, also—”

In the middle of his thought, Jeno gets up from the bed and reaches over to a nearby desk that’s covered in papers and pencils. He grabs a key and returns to the still drowsy Renjun, handing it to him. “Doyoung came by when you were asleep and told me to give you this. I think it’s a copy of your guys’ room key that he got from Principal Moon.”

“The key… Thanks,” murmurs Renjun, accepting the key and studying it for a good moment before stuffing it into his blazer’s pocket. Tiredly, he pushes himself off of the bed and smooths out wrinkles in his clothing. Soon enough, Jeno and Jisung makes their way to the door and head out to the hallway, both halting in order to ensure that Renjun is following them, which he is.

The trip to the mess hall is mostly spent by Renjun trying to fully wake himself up, meaning he scrunches his eyes and pats his cheeks. Since the three arrive at the mess hall just a couple minutes early, the place isn’t empty but neither is it chaotic. Unlike lunch and breakfast, dinner is served like a buffet, having long tables full of dishes and bowls of food on the first floor. To prevent things from getting too pandemonic, staff members are standing near these tables and managing any issues that could arise. 

Only a few feet forth of students are waiting in line with their trays. Jeno and Jisung hurry to join the others, grabbing their own trays and utensils. Jeno is considerate enough to take Renjun’s as well, who thanks him with a sleepy smile as they wait patiently for food. While they slowly creep towards the table, someone Renjun doesn’t recognize approaches Jeno and wraps his arm over his shoulders. Whoever this person is, he’s frighteningly tall and broad.

“I haven’t seen you all day, Jeno!” he exclaims, his voice laced with very obviously fake sadness. He grabs the shorter’s shoulders and shakes them around. “I thought I was gonna die!”

“I’m going to drop my fork if you keep doing that! On your foot, might I add!” 

“Oh. Okay, sorry,” the person says in a much calmer tone, suddenly losing his enthusiasm for seeing Jeno, though Renjun assumes this is also a part of teasing the werewolf. Now that he’s actually looking at the unfamiliar person—the two of them are standing in front of him—he notices the side view of a red badge on his chest. That certainly explains why they seem very close to each other. Before Renjun realizes it, both of them have turned their heads to him and he stares at them awkwardly. “Who’s this?” he asks, expecting Jeno to have an answer. 

Jeno glances up at the taller male. “He’s Renjun. It’s his first day here.”

“Huh.” Rubbing his chin, he stares right at the blonde and seems to observe his appearance meticulously. His dark brown hair is parted perfectly at the middle and hangs just above his eyes. On his left earlobe is a silver ring, though Renjun swears it’s against the dress code to have piercings on. His sharp gaze and strong facial structure further accentuates how threatening he looks. But from hearing his and Jeno’s earlier conversation alone, he sounds like a rather silly person. Whatever the deal is with him, Renjun feels a little intimidated. “Well, I’m Johnny. Nice meeting you.”

Renjun feels compelled to bow and so he does. This person can’t possibly be the same age as him. “Nice to meet you, too,” he greets formally. Almost immediately, Johnny starts walking in a circle around Renjun. The blonde gets creeped out and his body tightens up as, for some reason, Johnny is inspecting the other’s looks. This goes on for an unbearable amount of time (for Renjun, that is) until he finally stops and nods in satisfaction. 

“Yup. I see why you’re hanging out with him,” Johnny declares to Jeno, who narrows his eyes in confusion. “See, he’s exactly your ty—”

“Okay! Goodbye, Johnny!” Jeno hurriedly shouts, shoving him away from the line with his body (since his hands are full). The taller, seemingly unbothered, walks away and towards a table where a few others are already seated at. Although neither Jeno nor Renjun witness it, Jisung is doing a genuine facepalm. Jeno turns around to Renjun, his face very clearly flustered. “Please just, uh, ignore whatever he says. He’s kinda out of his mind.”

Renjun raises his eyebrows at the other with a tiny smile, deciding to poke fun at him. “So I’m exactly not your type?”

Jeno freezes. He’s stammering without being able to form actual words, his cheeks flushing brightly. “No! I mean—yes, you’re attractive, but—”

“Jeno. Food,” reminds Jisung, who’s had more than enough of Jeno being bad at things in regards to Renjun. The sophomore flattens his lips and turns straight to the table, quickly dumping a bunch of spaghetti on his plate. His ears are still red, Renjun notices. By the time the three are at the middle of the table, each with their plate mostly full, another person comes by. This time around, he places himself next to Renjun; the blonde looks to see who it is, just to be met with a head of pink-orange hair. He can’t help but smile at the familiar person, who is pushing back his locks over his forehead.

“How are you, Jaemin?” asks Renjun, picking up a small bowl of assorted fruits. At the mention of Jaemin’s name, Jeno suddenly flicks his head over his shoulder. He’s silent as he watches the two silently, an unexplainable expression upon his features; Jaemin notices the boy’s gaze and sticks out the tip of his tongue at him playfully.

“I’m great! How’s my dear Renjun doing this lovely evening?” Jaemin wonders aloud in a flowery manner, batting his eyelashes at the male. From the corner of his eye, he confirms that Jeno isn’t too happy about their conversation. His gaze is fixed on the five dinner rolls he has stacked on his plate, pretending to ignore what he’s hearing.

“I’m alright, Mr. Jaemin.” Renjun makes eye contact with the taller and flashes a smile at him before looking back to Jeno. He’s still pretending to not hear anything. Jaemin approaches him and, leaning close to the werewolf’s ear, whispers something that Renjun can’t hear. Whatever his words are, they cause Jeno’s eyes to widen in bewilderment. But then determination overwhelms his face and he mouths two words: ‘ _you’re on_ ’.

Jaemin goes back to the blonde, holding his hands out with a pleasant grin. “I’ll carry that for you.” 

“Uh… Thank you.” Although confused at the sudden offer, Renjun hands over his tray which the other receives with a bright, almost sly smile. With Jaemin walking right beside him and Jeno a step or two behind (and also Jisung, who’s probably keeping his distance on purpose), Renjun enjoys a strangely awkward trip to the second floor of the mess hall. 

Their usual table is already occupied by Chenle and another tray full of food, presumably belonging to Jaemin. The boy, who was in the middle of having a mouthful of chicken, waves his hand at the approaching group of four. Jaemin immediately places the other’s tray next to his own so Renjun really has no choice but to sit there; Jeno puts his own tray on the empty spot beside the blonde. He gets a weird feeling that he’s sitting in between a couple going through a petty argument. 

Meanwhile, Jisung calmly sits himself to Chenle’s left. They do a weird series of handshakes and gestures and, once they’re finished, quietly eat their food. 

“So how are you guys? Did anything exciting happen today?” asks Jaemin out of the blue, addressing the general table group. He twirls around a fork in his hand and stabs a cherry tomato mercilessly. At that very moment, Donghyuck comes running up the stairs with two bowls of soup that are terrifying close to being spilled. The group gawks at him as he makes his way over to the table and nearly drops his food. He’s panting heavily like he just ran a marathon. “Cool,” Jaemin says, staring at him with enlarged eyes.

“Why. Didn’t. Anyone. Tell me. That we’re hosting. This year’s. Halloween dance. Why?!” Donghyuck aggressively sits next to Jisung, directly facing the Jaemin-Renjun-Jeno sandwich. Grabbing a spoon, he dunks it into Soup Bowl Number One and sips daintily, though not before gently blowing on it, all while demanding an answer from _anyone_ (except Renjun) with his intense gaze.

Chenle drops his utensil. “Wait, what?!”

Jaemin does the same. “No way!”

“What?” Renjun asks meekly.

Jeno leans towards him so he can better hear him, explaining, “It’s a super big dance party sort of thing that’s Halloween themed. We do it with two other schools like ours. It’s really fun!” Understanding the general gist of the event, Renjun nods. Little did he know, Jaemin had been waiting for the perfect moment for him to strike. 

Jaemin tugs on Renjun’s arm closest to him. “Renjun,”—he pulls the boy to his direction and blinks puppy eyes at him—“we should wear matching costumes this year. Whatever you wanna do, really.”

Jeno frowns. Jaemin is smooth, _real_ smooth, but he gets overconfident sometimes. Jeno knows this for sure; they’ve been “friends” for years. “But he doesn’t know the best place to get a costume.” Saying this, the black-haired boy intrudes into their conversation with an innocent smile. “Renjun, wanna go to town with me over the weekend? I know a great place that sells really nice, affordable costumes.”

“Actually,” announces Jaemin, clearing his throat, smiling back at the werewolf, “I think he should go with me, since we’re going to be matching.”

Jeno points a fork at the other. “He hasn’t agreed to that yet. He could match with me instead.”

Renjun is starting to get dizzy. 

“You three should match together! Oh my gosh, that’d be so cute!” exclaims a person squeezed in between a not-so-happy looking Chenle and Jisung. Renjun has no clue who he is, but it seems like the duo sitting next to him do.

The first to speak up about the new presence is Jaemin, whose arm remains linked with Renjun’s. “Jungwoo? Since when were you here?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Like, five minutes ago?” Jungwoo ponders in a very soft voice, one that’s difficult to hear well. Despite his height and size (compared to the sophomore and freshman sitting on his two sides), Jungwoo’s aura is gentle and whimsical—Renjun doesn’t know how to explain it, but he can just _feel_ it. His pupils travel down to the newcomer’s chest. He wears a blue badge, which reminds Renjun that Jungwoo is the first blue-coded student he’s ever met. He immediately recalls the final category: vampire. “So, yeah! You guys would look so nice as a matching trio!” Jungwoo leans over the table and whispers, predominantly to Jaemin and Jeno. “Is he your guys’ boyfriend? Who is he?”

Renjun’s expression is flat. For maybe a couple seconds too long, Jaemin stares directly at the blonde before turning back to Jungwoo boldly. “I am his chauffeur,” he declares.

“My _what?_ ” questions Renjun with a gaped mouth, who is just about to lose (whatever he has left of) his patience.

“He’s our friend, Jungwoo…” replies Jeno defeatedly. “Nothing more than that.”

The vampire, sitting upright again and definitely taking up Jisung’s essential arm space, purses his lips in thought. “Okay… But what happened to you guys?” he then asks in a whisper, pointing to Jaemin and Jeno. Neither of them look like they want to answer. 

“His name’s Renjun. He’s new here,” Jaemin says, gesturing his chin towards the boy and diving into his plate of grilled chicken. Meanwhile, Renjun hears a soft sigh of relief coming from Jeno as he, too, is eating quietly. Jungwoo gazes at the one sitting confusedly in the midst of overly passionate eating and shrugs his shoulders. 

“I’m Jungwoo, by the way,” he introduces, holding his hand out in hopes of getting a handshake. Renjun returns the gesture with a small smile. The vampire puts his hands beneath his chin, his eyes traveling between the trio that he finds so adorable. Jungwoo is the exact opposite of what Renjun expected vampires to be like (in other words, the stereotypical vampire). He is one of the least intimidating people he’s ever seen, with his soft, round facial features that make him look incredibly young and almost childish, in both appearance and mannerisms. Nothing seems to particularly scream “vampire” just by taking in Jungwoo’s looks; his ashy brown locks, dark eyes and lack of the infamous fangs create the image of any normal person—or human, rather. “You really are perfect for these two… It’s actually kind of miraculous that you’re here.”

“...Is it?” Renjun says with doubt, frowning while chewing on his food. After swallowing, he crosses his arms over the table and turns to Jaemin and Jeno. “I think it’s not a bad idea, though, us three wearing matching costumes. We could do something like… the Powerpuff Girls?”

Jaemin contemplates the suggestion but then shakes his head. “I think what we need to do is Sailor Moon. One of us will be Tuxedo Mask and the other two will be sailor scouts!” He stands up excitedly, pointing to the frozen Renjun. “Renjun, you’ll be Tuxedo Mask, and I’ll be Sailor Moon!”

The sly grin upon Jaemin’s lips tells Jeno that something suspicious is going on. Eventually realizing what the other is up to, the werewolf also gets on his feet. Jungwoo is spectating in amusement. “I want to be Sailor Moon too!”

Jaemin’s hands rest on his hips sassily. “Well, I called it first, so you can go ahead and be someone else!” 

“What are they, toddlers?” Jisung disgustedly whispers to Chenle, who is thoroughly enjoying the scene. 

“They do this a lot. It’s perfectly normal,” Jungwoo reassures the speechless Renjun.

Looking up at the two arguing, the blonde tells them, “Can’t you two just be Luna and Artemis as cats or something? And then I can be Diana. There, problem solved.” He goes back to quietly eating his food, his eyes shut momentarily, while Jaemin and Jeno slowly sit back down (neither of them feel like they should disagree with Renjun, and it’s a pretty solid idea, anyways). A couple bites of his food go by until he pauses, staring at his plate blankly. “Why are we deciding this now, anyways? It’s August.”

 

 

The rest of dinner is generally peaceful and doesn’t involve any other petty arguments between Jaemin and Jeno (Renjun still hasn’t figured out why they’re happening to begin with). Dinner time ends at 7:30 and students have two hours of free time before they’re required to be in their own room. Most people use this time to complete homework or study and Renjun does exactly that, plus some organization of his belongings to get comfy in his dorm. For a while, Renjun is alone in his room. Well after the sun sets and when he’s at his desk, taking care of a math assignment, the door is unlocked and somebody steps in. 

“You’re our new roommate Doyoung told me about?” the person asks. He takes off his shoes and puts on a pair of indoor slippers, occasionally glancing at Renjun. His bag and small instrument case are dropped on his bed and he takes off his blazer, preparing to change into pajamas. Approaching Renjun—who’s quickly getting up from his chair—he smiles warmly. “ _I’m Kun. It’s great to meet you._ ”

Renjun’s gaze is fixed on the male; he can speak Mandarin? “ _I’m Renjun. Nice to meet you, Kun._ ” He bows, knowing that Kun is his senior, and eyes the instrument. 

The older seems to notice Renjun’s gaze and picks the case up, studying it with a soft yawn. “ _It’s a flute. I’m in the school orchestra,_ ” he explains gently, grinning fondly. His light brown, fluffy bangs give him a rather bubbly and friendly appearance—the atmosphere surrounding him is much, much different than Jaemin’s or the frighteningly tall werewolf from earlier. He feels safe and comforted. “ _We’re working on a bunch of new pieces for the upcoming Halloween dance… Oh!_ ” Kun, realizing he’s about to go on a tangent, stops himself before it’s too late and smiles sheepishly. “ _I’m sorry, I’m talking about myself too much. How was school today, Renjun? I hope you don’t mind me speaking in Chinese, by the way… My Korean isn’t that great._ ”

“ _If this is more comfortable for you, then I’m fine with it._ ” Renjun sits in his chair again, facing his body towards Kun’s bed. Crossing his arms over the back of the chair, he rests his head against his arms. He’s partially drowsy but he’s interested in having the conversation with Kun. “ _At this point, I don’t really know. I met some nice people but at the same time, I…_ ” Renjun pauses. His dark eyes stare endlessly at the white walls. “ _It was alright,_ ” he finishes quietly. Kun’s expression is vaguely worried, his eyebrows tense. He seems to have an idea as to why Renjun’s feeling so troubled about his first day of school. 

Kun doesn’t open his mouth for a couple moments but when he does, he’s just as quiet as the sophomore is. “ _Have some people been bothering you in any way?_ ” he questions with a slight frown, though he can guess what the answer is. Renjun nods, confirming his suspicions. “ _Well, Doyoung and I are here to talk if you need to. We’ve been through—_ ”

Speaking of the devil, the door swings open and an exhausted-looking Doyoung walks in, a stack of papers tucked under his arm. His hair is a little disheveled; Renjun can only assume that he’s been busy the entire day. He notices that the two are facing each other. “Oh. Hey. Looks like you two have met.” Making his way over to the bed across from Kun’s, he drops his items and exhales through his nose, taking off his blazer as well. He sits still on the mattress, glancing through his papers. “So, what were you guys talking about?”

“...Well, like I was saying, Doyoung and I have gone through similar stuff, so we understand if you’re not having the greatest time here,” Kun continues, clearing his throat at the end. Doyoung’s hand halts and he looks up to the brunette. 

“What is this about?” he asks, a hint of concern in his tone. 

“I was talking about how, er…” Renjun’s fingers fiddle around in his lap. He’s too reluctant to properly meet the gaze of the one he’s actually speaking to. “Some people have been… strange to me. I don’t know any of them, but they kept staring at me or whispering.”

Kun and Doyoung turn to look at each other, both with a strange expression upon their faces. Although they’re not speaking a word, they’re somehow communicating with their pained gazes. The air is heavy. Kun is decidedly the one to speak out. “Renjun, come sit here,” he calls, gesturing to his bed. Doing as he is told, the sophomore sits besides Kun, waiting to hear what’s on his mind. The older takes one more quick glimpse at Doyoung before sighing. “I think you’ve noticed and experienced it by now, but there’s this… stigma surrounding the whole ‘demon’ population here.”

Renjun nods very slowly. What Kun is saying does make sense, considering what he’s gone through just on his first day. 

“What we’re saying is that—” Doyoung adds, crossing his arms over his chest, “—what you’ve experienced today is normal, as much as I hate admitting it.” Suddenly, he groans and rubs his temples in exasperation. “I’m sorry, it’s just… It really is unfair. You, Kun, and the others haven’t done anything wrong, yet _some_ individuals like to label us as evil and untrustworthy. ...Renjun?” 

Renjun blinks, sitting upright and facing Doyoung. “Yes?”

“Promise me that if anything ever happens, you’ll come talk to me or Kun as soon as you can. Okay?”

“I promise,” responds the blonde, nodding. His expression is generally blank but with a hint of sorrow. It’s simple to tell that this is no joking matter. He wishes this is all a lie—the apparent stigma of being categorized as demon—but what the older two are explaining serves as the only explanation to the unpleasant glares Renjun has been receiving all day. 

The seriousness of Doyoung and Kun only keep him anxious for what he possibly has to face in the future. What if things do end up getting so bad that he has to transfer _again_? If so, there wouldn’t be any other place where Renjun could feel like he belongs—public or private, people have always noticed he’s different and poke fun at it. It’s been the same pattern since elementary school. Will things be the same throughout his entire life? All of these fears are incredibly scary and very real to Renjun, now that he’s presented with a situation that seemed hopeful at first but has quickly spiraled into despair. 

The boy feels a pair of arms wrapping around his body, squeezing him gently. His vision is getting blurry and it’s because he’s shedding tears without even realizing it. “Stay strong, Renjun,” Kun murmurs. “Things will get better—things _have_ gotten better. It may be tough, but we’re here for you.”

Another hand is gently placed on top of his head, stroking in slow, calm movements. “You’re not alone, Renjun,” says Doyoung quietly.

They’re not wrong. His mind travels to memories of the people he’s met so far; Jaemin, Jeno, and their friends accepted Renjun as a new member of the table group immediately. Jaemin in particular, now that he thinks about it, has been helping him—or, more accurately, saving him—when he encounters other people glaring coldly without reason. Jeno, too, didn’t seem like he was oblivious to what was happening to Renjun. Maybe he really can survive the year with the help of his friends. 

Renjun sniffs, parting from Kun’s embrace. He wipes away the tears with his wrists, staring at his feet. “Thanks. I’m fine, I just… was thinking about stuff.”

“Get some rest soon,” Doyoung tells him. Kun nods, agreeing. 

“Yeah… I will.” Having calmed down and stopped his tears, Renjun gets up from the bed and prepares to put away his items on the desk. From his duffel bag on his own bed—which he accesses while standing on the ladder—he takes out a small pouch. It’s filled with basic toiletries. Doyoung and Kun, after watching Renjun in silence, glance at each other with a knowing look and return to doing their own things (Doyoung going through his papers and Kun tidying up the room).

With his pouch, the youngest leaves and steps foot in the hallway. A couple of other students who are also needing to brush their teeth or take a late shower are headed to the bathroom as well. Renjun takes in a deep breath, needing to compose himself after the emotional moment he had. 

School so far isn’t enjoyable at all, considering all the nasty looks and judgement he’s gotten just from his very first day. 

But what Renjun keeps forgetting about is the fact that he’s made _friends_. Real, genuine friends who accept him as one of their own without any qualms. Friends who go out of their way to ensure that Renjun feels safe and happy. That thought alone is enough for the boy to hold at least _some_ hope that things will improve. 

_Staying strong. Patience. Perseverance._

_I’ve been through worse. I’ve handled death with my own hands for all my life. This is just school. I can do this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the lovely comments! im too shy to actually respond to them individually but i assure you i read all of them and they made me very happy :) im glad you guys are enjoying this fic hehe


	6. poor little bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeno acts a little weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was going to write a long(er) chapter to compensate for the delay but wow it got too long for me to handle as one chapter! so i cut it in half :|

The time is four a.m. when Renjun stirs awake.

The room is dark and cold, considering that the sun hasn’t risen yet. Sighing, he turns over in his bed for a comfortable sleeping position and shuts his eyes to no avail. His nap the day before (taken shamelessly on Jeno’s shoulder) was longer than it typically is, likely throwing off his sleep schedule. He can’t seem to slip into unconsciousness again. Figuring that a couple hours before his intended wake-up time is harmless, he rises from the bed with a held-back groan. 

Renjun moves cautiously, being considerate of the sleeping Kun right beneath him. There isn’t much he can do at the current hour, aside from quietly reading or something of the sort. He decides to get an early shower done so his hair will be dry by the time it’s breakfast. Languidly, he makes his way down the ladder, careful not to cause the wooden steps to creak, his pouch of toiletries in one hand. His feet (wearing slippers) shuffle around on the lacquered wood floor as he searches through the dark room for a towel. Just then, he hears a yawn and the unmissable rustling of fabric. 

“...Renjun? Is that you?” mutters Doyoung from his bed, who’s currently wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. 

“Ah, I’m sorry! Did I wake you up…?” Renjun responds in a hushed voice, concerned if he actually did wake Doyoung up by being too noisy. 

“No,” the older says, pushing his torso off of the bed with his elbows, “I usually wake up before dawn.” Reaching over to the nearby desk, he grabs his glasses and wears them, blinking his eyes at Renjun. “Kun’s a heavy sleeper. You don’t have to worry about disturbing him.”

Nodding, Renjun opens the closet to find a couple fresh towels in there. He takes one for himself and hangs it over his forearm. “I’m going to go take a shower and brush my teeth.”

“Oh, you are? Let me join you.” Doyoung gets up from his bed, stretching his arms over his head. From his own bag, he also grabs a small pouch and a towel from his ladder, approaching Renjun. Doyoung must be used to early mornings, the younger boy thinks while looking at his neutral, blank face. There aren’t any physical signs of sleepiness on him that he can detect. 

The two leave the room and make the journey down the hallway to the shared bathroom. As expected, the path is completely empty and the only sounds Renjun can hear are his and Doyoung’s footsteps. The place is dimly lit, as lights aren’t fully switched on until half past six. “Did you sleep well?” inquires Doyoung.

Renjun sighs, rubbing his eyes. “Not really, but that’s just about what I expected.”

Doyoung nods. “That goes for most people. Boarding school is strange at first but you should get used to it sooner or later.” His head turns to face Renjun. Although his expression is rather sharp and attentive, his messy bedhead ruins his diligent student president image. He asks in a lighter tone, “You asked me what I am yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Oh.” Renjun’s face flushes a faint pink just thinking about the embarrassing moment. “I did. I was curious but didn’t realize how rude I was being,” he explains. Doyoung smiles reassuringly.

“It’s fine, I didn’t mind. I think it’s a valid question. This is your first time being around other nonhumans, right?”

“Yeah. I never imagined you could be around so many werewolves and vampires at once.” Renjun gazes at the dark space ahead of them. “Everyone seems so… normal. I wouldn’t be able to tell they’re not human if I didn’t already know.” 

Renjun’s comment brings Doyoung to chuckle lightly. “Want to guess what I am?” he offers. The other appears surprised at the offer but decides to have a try.

“Uh… I don’t know what exactly classifies as a demon… Can you read minds or something?” Renjun innocently suggests, the end of his question rising in pitch. This time, the senior laughs even louder, though not loud enough to disturb the other sleeping students. Renjun is a bit embarrassed at himself and his very clearly wrong guess.

“That would be nice, but unfortunately I can’t do anything like that,” he says with an amused smile. They take step into the bathroom, Doyoung switching on the light. “I’m a familiar. A demon who takes the form of an animal and serves witches.”

Renjun’s lips make an ‘o’ shape. Familiars, demons, witches… It’s all so surreal. He probably wouldn’t even believe Doyoung if the principal didn’t show him a work of his magic yesterday. “That’s really cool! Is there a specific animal, or…?”

This causes the other to freeze and flash a rather flustered expression at him. “A hare, yes.” Sighing softly, Doyoung puts his items down on a counter within the bathroom. “I don’t often take my hare form because, er… My friends like to tease me for it. How I’m a ‘cute bunny’ and all that stuff. It’s really embarrassing.”

Renjun nods, most definitely wanting to see how the esteemed student president looks as a small, furry animal but suppressing that thought.

The two of them take their shower in separate, closed-off stalls, starting and finishing at around the same time. They then brush their teeth at the sinks, Renjun finding the wordless atmosphere to be so incredibly awkward—so he decides to break the silence.

“Doyoung, do you think… death is fate? Like, no matter how or when it happens, it’s meant to be that way?” he asks, looking at his own reflection in the mirror. 

Doyoung, who’s in the middle of aggressively swishing his toothbrush around, turns to the side to look at Renjun in wonder. He thinks about the question—certainly an odd one, not the type you’d expect to initiate a casual conversation—while he washes out his mouth and wipes himself dry with his towel. “Very interesting question…” He even crosses his arms over his chest in contemplation. “It could be. But death itself is something none of us know anything about, so not everyone agrees that death is specifically this or that. Death could be an inevitable end to my life, or it could be a door to a new life that you earned and worked towards. It could be anything is my point, depending on the person, and no one is right or wrong because we just don’t know what death really is.” 

“I… suppose,” says Renjun quietly, thinking back to the little girl from a couple days ago. Doyoung’s words sink in his mind—he expected something philosophical from the undoubtedly intelligent senior and what he said was nothing short of his expectations—as he thinks about himself. He’s never understood why he was chosen out of millions to act as a guide for people to the afterlife, or whatever is awaiting those who die. He was born from a normal human family, after all, so it really is a strange, unexplainable phenomenon for him to be this way against his will. Was becoming “death”, or at least the personification of it, also fate for Renjun? Or is that an open-ended question with unlimited answers, like Doyoung says? 

“Why ask, though? Just curious?”

Hearing this, the boy lets out a long exhale, gazing at the reflection of his dark, tired eyes.

“Yeah. Just curious.”

 

 

Renjun’s first period class is home ec, the elective that replaced his desired but full studio art class. Since he had arrived at school during lunch yesterday, this is his first time attending home ec. So far, there doesn’t seem to be anything that stands out within this classroom. Thankfully, the students staring at him when he did his self-introduction looked uninterested at best in his presence. Maybe it’s due to the couple of purple-badged people Renjun can see scattered throughout the room. The desks are counters, each equipped with a sink and stove, and everyone sits on not very comfortable metal stools.

The teacher, a kind, old woman that reminds Renjun of his grandmother, places him next to a junior wearing a blue uniform who, he realizes, he’s seen before—only briefly during last dinner, but nonetheless. The person recognizes Renjun too, giving him a friendly wave of his hand and a happy smile.

“Renjun!” he exclaims in a whisper-like voice, since the teacher is back to explaining the lesson. 

“Morning, Jungwoo.” Renjun offers a smile back—who wouldn’t to someone so friendly?—and gingerly sits next to the vampire.

“Sleep well?”

He simply shrugs. They go quiet in order to listen to the rest of the teacher’s lecture; for today’s lesson, she wants the students to go through the process of making crepes (either sweet or savory, depending on what each individual wants to do) including the preparation, following the recipe, cooking, and cleanup. At the mention of working in either pairs or groups of three, Jungwoo and Renjun turn to each other and nod. 

“Yellow’s a nice color on you,” Jungwoo, watching Renjun tie on an apron and a bandana on his head, comments. 

“You think so?” the other replies with a hum, smiling. The way Jungwoo constantly throws around random, unprompted compliments here and there is _really_ charming. It’s like his vague drowsiness from waking up extra early is all gone, healed by the sweet vampire. 

The two are standing next to each other at the counter, collaborating on measuring and pouring ingredients into the mixing bowl. 

“Are you close with the table group?” asks Renjun, watching him stir the ingredients.

“The one you were sitting with?” Jungwoo goes. “I’d say so. But no one’s as close to them as they are to each other. There’s like an unbreakable bond between them.” He’s gazing down at his work though occasionally he looks to Renjun, just to make sure he’s still listening. “You know, you must be special to them. They never let anyone new join their table and eat with them, _especially_ for multiple meals.”

This piques Renjun’s interest. Currently, he’s double-checking that their supplies for cooking are ready to be used. 

“Really?”

Jungwoo nods, his eyes wide. “Seriously. Even if people like me come and sit, you have to leave once you’re done with your business with them. That’s why some people call it the ‘dream table’—you can only dream of sitting and eating there.”

It sounds a little silly in Renjun’s opinion. What are they, the cool kids in a cliche high school drama?

“Then why were they fine with me there?”

“Probably because one or two of them are really interested in you,” Jungwoo says, winking suggestively to the other’s horror.

Renjun takes care of cooking the crepes, since the junior did the mixing of the ingredients. He has his sleeves rolled up to the elbows and is working carefully, eyes glued on the sizzling pan.

Jungwoo sighs dreamily, putting a hand on his cheek. “Renjun, you have no idea how excited I am for the Halloween dance… I’m planning to go all out this year!”

The boy smiles faintly. The Halloween dance sure is held at a high prestige by its participants. “What are you dressing up as?”

“Rose from _Titanic_!” he exclaims excitedly. “I have the outfit and wig all ready in my room.”

Renjun makes a noise of surprise, thoroughly impressed. He would never have the courage to put on a dress and wig in front of a huge crowd. Looking at Jungwoo’s features, he can see that he’d pull off a feminine character like Rose well—in terms of appearance _and_ personality.

While the sophomore is busy cooking, Jungwoo prepares the plates and the fruit plus whip cream (they decided on making dessert crepes). 

“Is there a Jack to your Rose?” 

“Oh, yes, there is! His name’s Jaehyun. He’s probably the most annoyingly handsome jock out there.”

Renjun raises an eyebrow at him, to which Jungwoo waves his hand around dismissively, a shy smile on his lips. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like him that way at all.” He puts a hand on the counter, watching the shorter finish cooking the two crepes. “I have eyes for someone else…” he explains, drawing circles on the countertop. He then freaks out and squeals, turning around. “Don’t tell anyone, but it’s… it’s Kim Doyoung. _Ahh!_ I can’t believe I just told you…”

Someone as seemingly confident as Jungwoo can get so flustered over a crush?

“You mean… the student president?” 

With his shoulders tensed up, the vampire sheepishly nods. While Renjun slides the crepes onto the two prepared plates, he says, “Huh. He’s my dorm mate.”

Jungwoo’s jaw drops dramatically and he suddenly grabs Renjun’s narrow shoulders, almost causing him to drop the frypan. 

“You… You’re being serious? You room with him!?”

“Jungwoo, I need to put this down…”

The older whispers a “sorry”, letting go of Renjun so he can place his utensils in the sink and run some water on them. They begin the last step, which is to add some various fruits and wrap everything up cleanly.

“I don’t know, he’s just… swell. I can’t explain it but everything about him is so stunning. Graceful. Awe-inspiring. He’s such an ethereal existence!” rambles Jungwoo while staring wistfully at a strawberry in his hand. “I’m so jealous of you, getting to share a room with him and all… Then again, maybe there’s some things about him that I shouldn’t know, for the sake of my unrequited love.”

“Right…” the other responds without looking up from his crepe, only partially listening.

A moment silent passes by. 

“…I’ll stop talking about my crush. But I can trust you, right?” The brunette gazes at Renjun, his eyes large in desperation and fear. “To not tell anyone?”

“Yes, yes—I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

For the rest of the period, they finish their crepes, clean up their station, and chat a little more with the free time they have until a fifteen minute break before the second class. According to Jungwoo, werewolves—Jaehyun’s one of them—and vampires ended their age-long feud a couple generations ago. Now, both parties don’t mind being around each other, contrary to the common stereotype found in supernaturally themed books or shows. Those werewolves are naturally extremely athletic and make up most of the school’s “jock” population. Many of them are athletes, in other words—there’s even a special track and field competition the school hosts, where werewolf students race in their actual wolf forms. The track and field coach has a lot of hopes for Jisung, who is apparently dominating the whole team despite being a freshman, and he’s quite popular because of this.

Renjun also learns that everyone at the so-called “dream table” is a lot more popular than they probably seem. Jisung is the star of the track and field team, which is the werewolves’ most favorite sport. Chenle is an “insane” cello player in the orchestra and, by rumor, a piano prodigy. Donghyuck, a member of the choir, has an angelic voice that soothes everyone’s heart. Jeno is referred to as the ace of the volleyball team. His spikes are powerful enough to actually destroy volleyballs when he hits them—and he’s destroyed _many._ Lots of people like the gap between Jeno on the court (athletic, tall, terrifyingly strong) and Jeno off the court (kind, a little childish, easily flustered). And last but not least, Jaemin, whose sheer charm, wit and humor make him constantly swarmed by admirers. He’s basically the flirtatious teenager of everyone’s dreams, who all thinks he’s too good for them. A certain air of mystery surrounds him as well—some claim that he has a dark past that he won’t let _anyone_ know about.

So, really, considering each and every one of their statuses and the fact that they’ve always specifically sat as a group of five and no more tells Renjun _something_ , regarding their quick acceptance to letting him join. Jungwoo said that it’s probably because “one or two of them” are interested in him. And remembering the events that went on during both lunch and dinner, Renjun can unfortunately name those two individuals. 

 

 

When it’s break and Renjun has parted ways with Jungwoo, he’s stopped in the outdoor pathways by a panting Chenle. 

Renjun clutches a social studies textbook—his second period class—close to his chest, a little taken aback by the sight of Chenle wheezing and crouching over his knees.

“ _Renjun… Renjun…_ ” he barely breathes out. 

“ _Catch your breath first, Chenle.”_

A couple more heavy breaths go by and Chenle finally stands upright.

“ _Jeno said he wants you to meet him at the gardens._ ”

“ _What? Why?_ ” Renjun blinks. “ _Right now?_ ”

“ _Yes, right now! Sorry, I’m in a hurry!_ ” 

Before he can say something in response, the lime-headed boy runs off in the opposite direction. He notices a large stack of sheet music tucked under his arm that makes him fear for the day Chenle bumps into someone (or something) and drops all those papers. 

Figuring he has nothing better to do anyway—and that he shouldn’t ignore Jeno’s request—Renjun heads over to the backyard of the school where the gardens are.

The place is quiet and serene—no one is there, save for the occasional person passing through to get somewhere else. Most of the vegetable gardens Renjun walks past on a neatly crafted stone path are sectioned off and labeled by the classes that are using them. He recognizes some radishes and tomatoes but occasionally, he notices some plants of odd shapes and colors—he swears he even saw one moving on its own. 

Deeper into the yard and towards a forest that borders the school perimeters, a figure is crouching down in front of a row of bushes. He turns around when hearing Renjun’s approaching footsteps, though this happens way before the honey-haired student expects it to.

Jeno, when Renjun is standing in front of him with a curious expression, puts a finger to his lips and gestures for him to be in the same pose. With the two of them crouching down, hiding behind the bush from an unknown entity, Jeno peeks over the leaves and points to something on the grass. Renjun looks as well and is pleasantly surprised.

A little bird—a young one, probably—is dipping its beak into a water-filled petri dish and drinking. The bird’s feathers, a gorgeous array of red, orange and purple stand out to Renjun the most, having never seen an animal with such a colorful coat. Looking at its tiny wings, he observes that one appears oddly bent and overall, feathers are missing here and there. He glances back to Jeno who is smiling angelically.

“I found her yesterday chirping really loudly,” explains Jeno in a whisper as to not disturb the bird.

“Did you prepare that petri dish?”

“Yeah.” Jeno’s face becomes vaguely flustered. “I… borrowed it from a science room.”

“Ah, right. You _borrowed_ it.” Renjun grins knowingly.

This makes the werewolf avert his gaze from Renjun and back to the little bird. “They say they’re the descendants of the mythical Phoenix, these birds. That’s why her feathers are so colorful.” The smile on Jeno’s fades, replaced with a rueful frown. He pauses before speaking again. “Does she remind you of Jaemin?”

“Huh?” Taking another look at the fire-colored feathers, the other nods. They do resemble Jaemin’s head of a similar color scheme, though his is more pink. “I guess so. Why?”

“It’s what I thought when I first saw her,” he mutters, his voice lowering with every other word.

Jeno’s sudden switch in attitude when mentioning Jaemin isn’t the most unfamiliar to Renjun, now that he thinks back to yesterday. It happened twice—once at his dorm with Jisung and the other at dinner when Jungwoo questioned what was going on with “them”. Maybe something occurred between the two that neither of them like to talk about? Even if that’s true, they still seem close to each other.

“Her wing…” Jeno says, trailing off to silence. A particularly woeful light shines in his dark eyes that gaze at the bird worriedly. “It looks painful. I wish I could do something to help her.”

Renjun puts his hand on Jeno’s shoulder, sensing that the state of the little bird upsets him quite a lot. Jeno looks surprised at first, his lips gaped open when turning to Renjun, but he soon flashes him a shy smile. It’s no difficult task to tell that he’s particularly flustered from the red on the tip of his ears and cheeks. The werewolf really is a cute person, Renjun thinks. There’s something about his aura that gives him comfort, even though all he’s doing is showing him a sheepish grin. Plus, the way Jeno is looking at him so attentively and patiently makes Renjun way more nervous than he should be.

“Is that why you wanted to show me?” Renjun asks.

“Oh.” Jeno rubs the back of his head, trying to find a proper answer. “I just thought, well, if I’m going to need to look after her until I can get her wing fixed somehow… that I could trust you to help me take care of her. Is that… too much to ask for?” His words are careful, like what he’s saying is a big deal for him to be able to muster out.

Renjun shrinks under Jeno’s stare, frozen in place. Him, Huang Renjun, taking care of a live creature? Jeno’s request is something he normally wouldn’t decline; saving a troubled animal is great and admirable. But there’s a complex that ties him down—he’s seen, no, _assisted_ the death of so many people. All he knows is death; the stain of death is on his hands and he could never wash it off. He’s never personally dealt with an animal before and is too scared of the possible consequences if he _does_ try it out for the first time.

“Renjun?” Jeno calls, having waited for a while and getting no response.

“Oh. Sorry,” murmurs Renjun, pushing back his thoughts and doubts. He plays it off with a small smile. “I’ll do what I can. Shouldn’t you ask other people too, though?” he inquires innocently. “Like Jaemin? He’d be helpful, I think.”

“No!” Jeno exclaims immediately, almost cutting Renjun off, his eyes wide in urgency. He pulls himself away from Renjun’s touch on his shoulder forcefully. “I’d never do that to him.”

Realizing he’s said more than he should, Jeno fakely clears his throat, getting up from the ground. Renjun, holding his own hand close to his chest in unsettlement, watches as he steps away from the bushes, refusing to look at him. The bell ringing in the distance, telling them break is over, gives Jeno an excuse to briskly leave. 

“See you later, Renjun,” he says flatly, back turned to the other.

Jeno couldn’t have made it any more obvious to Renjun that he was trying to ignore a slip-up he made. Even as he’s making his way to his second period class, Renjun can’t stop thinking about what Jeno said: _I’d never do that to him._ No matter which way he looks at the phrase, it doesn’t make any sense to him. Why would Jeno be so against letting Jaemin help them take care of the little bird? There’s no immediate connection Renjun makes between these things.

All he knows is that it’s his first time seeing Jeno anywhere near as somber as he is now—and that it unexplainably scares him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry for the lack of the anticipated Romance  
> (but hopefully i can provide some in the next couple of chapters)  
> (but also, disclaimer, this story isnt too big about romance)


	7. twisted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> renjun goes through a lot. so does jaemin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before i say anything i just want to apologize: i am SO SORRY for the huge delay!! i never intended to abandon(?) this fic but that's basically what happened for the past few months as i've been caught up with school, college things etc. etc. but i'm back!!! (i think) i felt REALLY bad for not updating for six literal months and i saw your guys' comments asking for an update so... i delivered!
> 
> okay, now about the actual chapter itself: i absolutely did not proof read this at all, so expect lots of weird spelling/grammar/word choice?? errors. it's the longest i've written so far for this fic because, again, i'm super sorry for the delay and wanted to make it up to any of y'all that really wanted the 7th chapter. 
> 
> i think that's all i have to say for now. please enjoy!! (and sorry if it uh. doesn't exceed your expectations?? whoops)

“A group of ferrets is indeed called a ‘business,’” Donghyuck is explaining matter-of-factly to his table group when Renjun finally arrives at his second class, social studies (of the nonhuman world). Since there’s an empty spot across from him, the teacher places Renjun at Donghyuck and a second brunette’s table. “Hey, it’s you,” he points out at the familiar person.

“It’s me, yes.” Renjun takes out his supplies, textbook and an empty notebook in anticipation of some note-taking.

“You guys know each other?” the one sitting next to Donghyuck asks, looking back and forth between the two sophomores. Donghyuck pats his shoulder.

“He’s the new demon kid I told you about. The one that Jaemin and Jeno are in love with.”

“E… Excuse me?”

“What?” Donghyuck raises his eyebrows at Renjun like it’s obvious. “You seriously can’t have _not_ noticed the flirty look in Jaemin’s eyes or how shy Jeno gets around you.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Anyways, this is Mark, probably the most docile junior out there. And also the only Canadian at this school! I think.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Mark gives the other a weird look before turning to Renjun. “Well… Hi, Renjun. I’m Mark.”

If Donghyuck hadn’t conveniently informed the blonde that he’s a year above them, he would have thought Mark’s in their same grade—or even younger. His face is noticeably small and petite; his eyes are large and beady, almost like a dog or some sort of curious animal. His badge is a green that matches the one on Donghyuck’s chest. 

“Hi,” the other responds, flashing a quick smile at him.

“Mark here is a sneaky little fox, so I wouldn’t trust anything he does or say.”

Donghyuck swings an arm around the offended-looking Mark’s shoulders, who forcibly removes his arm from himself. A peculiar bracelet with a small, red gem peeks through his sleeve when he does so. 

“That’s… No! What?” he sputters. “I don’t pull tricks on people like that! Renjun, dude, don’t listen to him. I’m not into that kind of stuff. Seriously.”

The teacher warns them to be quiet since he’s in the middle of a lecture. But their conversation has interested Renjun so he continues anyway, soft-speaking to the two seated across from him.

“What does being a fox have to do with that?” asks Renjun, tilting his head. 

“Ever heard of _kitsunes_?” Donghyuck pipes up. “They’re fox creature-... things that can shapeshift into humans. Most of them are epic pranksters, like our good friend Mark Lee.”

“But I’m not!”

“Shh! This is a valuable lesson for Renjun. It’s his first time around nonhuman creatures. Mark, show him the thing.”

“I swear to god…” Mark’s face goes into his palm and he sighs. “Here.” He rolls up his sleeve, holding out his arm to show Renjun the bracelet with the red gem. “It’s my life.”

Renjun merely blinks at him confusedly. 

“I mean—I don’t know how to explain this, man… It’s like…” Struggling to find the right words, Mark clenches his fist and grunts. “Like… This gem represents my life and powers. If it’s far away from me for too long, I’ll die.”

“Really?” goes the astonished Renjun, his lips flattening in thought. “That’s… inconvenient.”

“And that’s why you should never try stealing and hiding it from him as a joke. Because then he’ll die and that’s not very good.”

“Haechan.”

“Love you too, Mark.” He puckers his lips and leans uncomfortably close to Mark, who shrieks in terror. The teacher reminds them once again to be quiet.

Once the half hour long lecture ends and the teacher gives them a worksheet to complete, having endless fascination for these supernatural creatures and whatnot, Renjun brings up his table group’s conversation from the beginning of class. 

“Uh…” Mark taps his pencil against the table. “I can only really shapeshift right now since I’m really young. It takes a lot of energy to duplicate a person’s appearance, especially if I try to do, like, my five-year-old cousin or something.”

“What about your current appearance?”

“Oh. We’re not fully _kitsunes_ , my family and I. It’s… hard to explain but basically, we have a ‘true’ human form and a fox one. Anything other than that, we have to actively shapeshift into, but we’re born as a human to begin with. Sort of. Did that even make sense?”

Renjun nods. Donghyuck is pretending to sleep and snores loudly, on the other hand, which prompts Mark to whack him (gently) on the arm. The blond smiles at the sight; they must be really close friends.

“Donghyuck, what about you?” Renjun wonders.

As though he’s been waiting for this moment, the boy clears his throat and puts a hand on his chest gracefully, a proud smile stretching across his face.

“Watch this,” he announces, lifting a finger. When his finger traces a small circle over the pencil on the table, it leaves a faint stream of golden sparkles that fall onto the pencil and eventually disappear. Magically, the pencil stands on its own and draws a very poorly done image of Mark with fox ears on his paper all without Donghyuck touching it. Renjun is astonished, as seen with his huge eyes and gaped mouth.

“Whoa…” The honey-haired male gasps in awe, his eyes following the movements of the enchanted pencil. Donghyuck grins smugly. “Was that magic?”

“Fairy dust, to be precise.”

“That’s so cool!”

“ _Finally_ someone appreciates how great I am!” The brunette shakes his head and reaches over to give the other a hearty handshake. “Renjun, I thank you sincerely.”

This makes Renjun giggle. He _does_ agree that Donghyuck’s fairy dust is pretty fascinating. “You’re welcome… This means that you’re a fairy, right?”

“Yes, child. That’s correct.”

Renjun’s eyes shimmer excitedly. At this point, he’s quit working on the assignment and is instead simply admiring the alleged fairy sitting in front of him. “Wow…”

“You see, Mark?” Donghyuck holds out his hand, gesturing to the starstruck Renjun while turning to the junior. “ _This_ is why sprites are the superior students of this school. There’s just so much diversity and most importantly, we’re _magical._ I mean, just look at our circle of friends! We’ve got a fairy, a _kitsune,_ a siren, an elf… Heck, even the principal is one of us!”

“I’m not sure if…” Mark begins but stops, looking at the overly confident Donghyuck. “You know what? Never mind.”

An elf? Renjun doesn’t recall meeting someone like that. “Who’s the elf?”

“Chenle. Haven’t you seen his ears?”

“…Oh,” mutters Renjun, vividly remembering the pointed ears on the lime-haired boy that stood out to him.

“So, no offense to everyone else. I mean, werewolves are neat. They’re good at sports or whatever. Vampires are cool, I guess. I’d prefer not to get bitten, though. And demons?” Donghyuck pauses, his eyes blinking and his arms frozen midair. “Arguably the coolest out of the three, but still not as great as sprites. That’s my verdict.”

“But if we’re talking about diversity and magic, then demons have those too,” suggests Mark, resting his crossed arms on the tabletop.

“True. But demons are kinda… scary.”

Mark does a double-take between the two younger boys. “You think _he’s_ scary?”

“Not as a person, but the concept. Like, have you heard of that one freshman who can manipulate _flies_? It makes me tremble just thinking about it…”

“I’m not… really a demon,” Renjun tells them quietly, his hands folded in his lap nervously. “I just don’t fit in the other three groupings. So maybe there are other people like me and not everyone is necessarily a demon.”

Mark slowly nods his chin in silence, a vaguely fearful look in his eyes for some reason as he glances at Donghyuck to see his reaction.

“Huh.” Donghyuck simply shrugs nonchalantly. “I guess so.”

A sigh of relief slips past Renjun’s lips—he was nervous, thinking they would question what species he is after he mustered up the courage to say, at least, that he isn’t an actual demon. 

…Or is he and he just doesn’t realize it? He tries not to think about it too much.

“So when’s the wedding?”

“The… The what?”

Immediately catching on to what Donghyuck is trying to do, Mark covers his face and sighs. “Don’t listen to him, Renjun… He wants to set you up with Jeno and Jaemin.”

“They’re literally _in love_ with him! It’s absolutely perfect!” the brunette exclaims, slamming a fist on the table.

Renjun’s face grows pink and he cowers slightly, embarrassed at the topic. It’s not even the first time nor is Donghyuck the first person to mention him being with the two. It can’t be that obvious, can it? They must just be messing with him—surely Jeno _and_ Jaemin can’t like him in that way already.

“I-I really don’t think they are…”

“Oh, trust me—I _know_ the lovestruck look in their eyes when I see it. I’ve known those guys for years. And it gets intense when they’re staring at you. _Everyone_ at our table knows.”

Renjun gets even shyer and he sinks into his chair. “We met for the first time yesterday… It hasn’t even been one day yet!”

Donghyuck scoffs. “You can’t convince me that, at the very least, Jaemin hasn’t flirted with you or that Jeno hasn’t come up with a bunch of excuses to spend time with you yet.”

The blonde’s finger rises in protest but once his mouth opens, he realizes that Donghyuck is right and that both Jaemin and Jeno have done _exactly_ as what he’s said. He goes quiet in defeat, and the other grins. Is that what’s really going on, two whole people crushing on him? Or does everyone make a hobby out of teasing Renjun by lying about things and making him feel like he’s actually crush-worthy material?

“I told you. I _know_ these people.”

“Even if that’s true, they… they only see who I am superficially,” says Renjun, his voice losing its volume and confidence. He doubts that those two—or anyone, for that matter—would treat him the same if they knew who—or rather, _what_ he is, him and his relationship with death. One could even say that he kills people and Renjun wouldn’t completely disagree. That’s why he isn’t comfortable telling his newfound friends what he does as a living embodiment of death, but he wouldn’t want to lie to them, either. In other words, it’s difficult for Renjun, having to deal with a mild identity crisis that’s somehow gotten worse after spending time around fellow nonhumans.

Donghyuck shakes his head. “Nah. They—Jaemin especially—can see past just your appearance and stuff. Besides, they’re not the type of people to care what sort of dark, tragic past or secrets you’re hiding. They just, you know… like you. And that’s it.”

Renjun lets his head absorb those words. Maybe he should trust Donghyuck since he _has_ apparently known them for a long time, compared to the twenty-something hours Renjun has.

“Even if they learn that I’m secretly a serial killer?”

Mark scoots his chair away from the alleged serial killer.

“Yes, most definitely,” says Donghyuck without hesitation. Renjun smiles slightly; the fairy might act in a ridiculous manner, but he doesn’t fail in reassuring the transfer student and making his worries disappear (even though he still isn’t totally convinced that he’s the crush of two entire people). “You know how lucky you are that some of the hottest kids here are trying to get with you? Seriously, you should go out to town with them and see what happens for yourself.”

“Uh… What exactly happens?”

“Oh my god, last year!” Mark exclaims, dropping his pencil. “Last year we went out to town and I swear I almost got killed by a group of witches!”

Donghyuck snickers, adding, “Yeah, the witches from that middle school witch academy.”

“You didn’t have to mention that but you mentioned it anyway.”

“You know me, babe.”

“Okay, anyways!” The fox looks to Renjun with a terrified expression. “They were casting some weird spells outside the store we were shopping at because they were trying to charm Jeno and Jaemin or something and _I_ got caught up in it! If I didn’t shapeshift to a fox in time, I probably would’ve died!”

Renjun looks surprised, though he feels Mark might be overexaggerating his story. “Really?”

“Seriously, this sort of stuff has happened every time we’ve gone out with them!”

“I mean, you know their looks are no joke, right?” questions Donghyuck, raising an eyebrow at the blond. “You’ve seen them.”

“Um…” He gulps, reminiscing about the vibrant, sunset-colored locks on Jaemin that give his devilishly handsome features a soft, warm aura and Jeno, the one who would look intimidatingly cool if he didn’t flash his adorable eye-smile and toothy grins at everyone. They’re like literal gods to Renjun, who thinks he himself looks absolutely average and unworthy, even, of being in their presence. And the more he thinks about how attractive they are individually, the more he loses trust in Donghyuck’s claim that they _both_ like him. “They’re… cute.”

“I know that’s not even half of what you think of them, but cool.” The fairy twirls the pencil around in his hand idly, having no intention of completing his work. His lips purse in thought as he glances to Renjun. “If you’re considering dating one of them, though, forget about that. It’s not gonna go well for you.”

“Yikes, yeah. Don’t do that.”

“I don’t even…” Renjun begins in protest with a hand up, but pauses when repeating Donghyuck’s warning in his head. “Wait, why?” 

“They have relationship issues. With each other, I mean,” Donghyuck explains, shrugging. “They used to sort of go out but they grew apart. I don’t even know what’s going on between them but they’re oddly competitive now. And I’m pretty sure you’re the catalyst for the petty arguments they keep having during meals these days.”

This makes Renjun think of that discussion about Halloween costumes (which he thinks shouldn’t even be happening because it’s two months before the dance). For some reason, Jeno and Jaemin were arguing over who should be Sailor Moon, if Renjun were to be Tuxedo Mask, which he thought was a pointless argument. He says, “So you’re saying that they’re arguing over me or something?”

“Yeah. Like, if you hung out with one of them a lot, then the other person would get really jealous. They’re both kinda possessive, you know? For Jeno, it’s natural, like his ‘instincts.’ For Jaemin, I think that’s just… Jaemin.”

“Now I’m kinda scared,” Renjun mutters under his breath.

“It’s okay, friend. There’s one solution to all of this.”

“…Which is?”

Donghyuck gets up from his chair and steps towards Renjun so he can whisper directly into his ear. Mark winces, knowing how “great” Donghyuck’s “solutions” to things tend to be. Renjun leans back in his chair with a face full of doubt.

“But you’re saying all of this assuming I’d want to date them.”

“Are you saying you _wouldn’t_?” The sprite blinks at Renjun unbelievably. “It’s honestly just a matter of time before they ask you out, probably at the same time, unless you seriously turn them off somehow—and you’re gonna be lost without knowing what to do.”

Looking up to him, Renjun frowns, telling him, “I doubt that’s gonna happen.”

Donghyuck makes his way back to his seat with a sigh.

“Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

 

 

His and Donghyuck’s conversation still strikes concern in Renjun throughout the rest of the day, no matter how hard he tries to forget about the sprite’s words. He can’t help but feel that Donghyuck has a way better understanding of the two people in question, and that he truly does know what he’s talking about. A sour past and rivalry they share would perfectly(?) explain what Renjun has gone through when they’re around. But them having enough interest in him to actually ask him out? Very unlikely. Donghyuck isn’t Jeno or Jaemin, after all, so he can’t know _everything_ about them. Besides, judging from Donghyuck’s playful personality, Renjun can assume this is just a part of him poking fun at his fellow sophomores.

After the last period of the day, due to the insistence of Jaemin for the sake of giving him a school tour, Renjun is brought to a spacious balcony on the fifth floor, which provides him a great view of the grass fields and ongoing sports practices. Jeno tags along as well—he was quick to say he wants to come with when Jaemin first mentioned it during lunch. When that happened, Renjun could tell Donghyuck was making a _look_ at him, though that he ignored with a roll of his eyes. 

The balcony is like one Renjun would imagine seeing in a castle from an old Disney movie. The architecture of the area is strikingly European, the fancy black and gold design of the short fence standing out to him. Perhaps like that one palace in France that he briefly learned about once. Not many people visit the balcony, apparently, despite it being open all day, making it a nice place to have some peaceful time to oneself.

“I thought you’d be the type to enjoy something like this,” Jaemin tells Renjun with a satisfied half-grin when they get there, leaning a hand atop the decorative railing at the edge of the balcony. The three stand there—Renjun tightly in between the siren and werewolf—staring down at the multitude of students scattered throughout the vast school grounds. 

“Very thoughtful of you,” pleasantly replies Renjun, almost playfully, returning the smile to Jaemin.

Jeno pats Renjun’s arm, waiting until he turns his head to ask, “Have you thought of your plans for the weekend?”

Renjun shakes his head. Today is Friday, meaning he should probably consider how he wants to spend the next days of no classes. There is a system for leaving the campus and going to the nearby town, but he isn’t sure if he wants to try it out all of a sudden—especially since he’s unfamiliar with that town. Besides, staying in and catching up on assignments and textbooks is probably the smarter choice.

“Well, I was thinking we could… go to town together. There’s a lot of cool places down there!” Jeno suggests, maybe a little shy but nonetheless looking to the boy eagerly.

The person on Renjun’s opposite side clears his throat loudly. “Excuse you, but I’m here too,” he says, voice laced with blatant annoyance. “Renjun, you should go with me instead.”

He shuts his eyes for a moment and breathes deeply. Is this really happening again? Are they seriously going to argue over who he goes to town with, even though there are _two_ days available? As much as he appreciates the fact that this means they’re eager to spend time with him, it’s tiresome. And also embarrassing.

Jeno steps away from the railing and narrows his eyes at Jaemin. “You know what?” he goes, crossing his arms, “Let’s fight like _men_ to see who’s worthy of going with him.”

“Ha!” Jaemin snorts, staring Jeno in the eye. “I accept your challenge.”

“Guys, you know all three of us can just go together, right?” says Renjun with a soft groan. The two of them look at him and reject that suggestion simultaneously.

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

“Ha!”

“Ugh… Rock, paper, scissors!”

“Okay, best of five!”

“No, wait, best of ten!”

Renjun sits himself on the railing of the balcony, knowing he’s going to be there for a while. Although it’s not the most comfortable place to be, the structure is sturdy and wide enough for him to stay still. He holds onto the railing and swings his legs back and forth, watching the two compete in an endless battle of the hand game, waiting for the moment they realize how childish they’re being and give up.

It’s a little annoying, if Renjun were to be completely honest. He doesn’t like being the center of attention and that’s exactly what Jeno and Jaemin are doing to him with their petty arguments and fights. As much as Renjun _would_ be irritated by their behavior, though, it makes him smile. To think that they’re genuinely fighting with each other (harmlessly) so they can spend time with him is, well, unbelievable. It makes him oddly happy, despite how embarrassing it is to witness them get so fired up over rock paper scissors. 

But at the same time, he wonders if he actually deserves them as friends. He’s heard that they’re terrifyingly popular at school, after all. A lot of people must be dying to be as close as Renjun is to them. What if they’re only hanging out with him because Doyoung introduced him on his first day? Even worse—what if Doyoung _didn’t_ introduce Renjun to that table? There are so many things Renjun feels he owes to these people—for their generosity, friendliness, acceptance—that leads him to question his entire presence around them. They’re so nice to him, but what has Renjun done to deserve such a warm welcome from people he’s just met?

“I won! Best eight out of ten, that’s what you said!” Jaemin shouts with a wide grin, raising his fist up in the air triumphically. “Renjun’s going out with me, loser.”

“Wait! It’s not a real battle unless we do best out of, uh… 100!” Jeno shouts back, panicked. They step closer to glare at one another, much like little kids. The sight makes Renjun laugh softly. 

Jaemin whips his head around. “Renjun, what do you think?”

“Huh?” Renjun goes lightly, blinking his eyes with surprise at the two, who are now both glancing at him expectantly. “Uh… I could just go out with Jaemin on Saturday and Jeno on Sunday?”

They both freeze with their eyes wide as though that idea had never come to thought. “You’re a genius!” Jeno tells him excitedly. Renjun laughs again, waving his hand dismissively. This makes Jaemin pout in dissatisfaction. 

“Then I call taking him to the cafe! He’s not gonna want to go there twice in a row,” smugly, Jaemin says, smirking at the werewolf.

“F… Fine! Then I’ll be going to the theater,” replies Jeno, stuttering at first but soon gaining confidence watching Jaemin’s jaw drop slightly. Renjun, meanwhile, wonders why they specifically chose those two places (and how they were on the verge of arguing over them), his legs still swinging gently.

“What’s so special about the cafe and theater?” he asks.

“Well,” Jaemin begins, raising his pointer finger, “the cafe is a popular place for—”

Jeno reaches over to clamp the sprite’s mouth shut with his palm, leaving the rest of his words to be inaudibly muffled. He looks nervous for some reason, almost like he was about to vomit.

“You did not hear anything from Na Jaemin,” Jeno insists, aggressively nodding his head at Renjun, looking like he’d just ran a marathon. In return, Renjun mutters an “uh-huh” confusedly. Just when Jeno puts down his arm, thinking he’s safe, Jaemin grins.

“—couples. It’s a popular couples’ cafe,” he finishes, fully satisfied with himself. Jeno groans. “A witch lady runs it. She makes love potions that you can buy and share with whoever you come with, but not by yourself nor can you take one home.”

Renjun nearly looks disgusted at the information but nods anyways. The nonhuman world really is crazy; he was foolish for thinking it was only the school. 

“So… you’re saying that you want to visit that cafe… with me? Just me, the… two of us?” questions Renjun, articulating every other word to be absolutely sure that Jaemin is implying what he’s been implying.

All the siren does is smile and nod enthusiastically, fully aware of his intentions. 

“You’re… not saying it’s a…”

“It is,” says Jeno bluntly. He doesn’t look too happy. “And I wanted to go on one with you. To the theater. It’s another popular couples’ place.”

Renjun is truly speechless at this point. From the spot where he’s seated on the railing, Jeno and Jaemin stand in front of him, looking at him expectantly. _Two cute boys asking me on a date at the same time. I’m dreaming for sure._

His face grows bright pink. He scrambles to find the right words he should say but it’s very, _very_ difficult for him. 

Renjun shakes his head, clutching it. “I’m—I’m sorry, I just have to process all this first…”

“Yeah, _Jeno._ Give him time,” Jaemin taunts the werewolf, smirking.

“If you want to fight, then let’s fight,” Jeno growls in response, ticked off at the sprite’s condescending attitude. “Come on, _fairy boy._ What's holding you back? Your precious, combed hair?”

“Oh, Jeno Lee.” After rolling his eyes, Jaemin suddenly flashes a gaze of determination that Renjun’s never seen before. He feels scared, even. “You’re talking to a sprite. You’ll regret that.”

_Oh no,_ the bystander thinks out of dread. Even for a joke-fight this was looking far too genuine for comfort. The last thing he’d want them to do is fight for the sake of himself, of all people, and hurt each other—physically and emotionally. Renjun steps in between the feuding boys, putting a hand on top of each of their wrists. Maybe he should do more, he thinks while watching Jeno and Jaemin still glare at each other, and holds their hand instead. As expected, they’re visibly surprised and glance to the shortest one of the trio. 

“Please… don’t fight,” he manages to plead, looking up to both of them with beady eyes and a frown. “It makes me sad. There’s no need to fight; like I said, I’ll go with Jaemin on Saturday and Jeno on Sunday.” He pauses for a moment to see their reactions. They seem to have calmed down. “So promise me no more fighting, okay?”

They grumble something in unison. 

“Fine.”

“I guess.”

Renjun, smiling, gives each of them a grateful hug. Jeno and Jaemin blush at the gesture, finding it rather cute of the blonde.

“Do you like this spot so far?” Jaemin then asks after a moment of silence, his voice gentle. “Nice place to get fresh air, right?”

Renjun hoists his body back onto the railing. “I like it. I think I’ll be coming here pretty often. Sorry if this was supposed to be a secret hideout or something like that.”

“Nah.” Jeno has his elbows lifted, hands resting behind his head. “There’s always space for one more.” 

“Jeno?” Someone tall is standing at the entranceway of the balcony. It’s Jisung, looking unamused as ever.

“What’s up? Thought you’d be with Lele by now,” Jeno says with a yawn, walking towards him. Jaemin and Renjun make eye contact, the sprite shrugging his shoulders. 

“Your coach wants to talk to you about something.”

“Really? What’s it about?”

“Jisung!” Jaemin yells. The freshman glances at his senior, who makes a heart shape with his hands. “I wuv you.”

Jisung sticks out his tongue and retches multiple times. Now that Jaemin is fake-upset at his “love confession”, he stomps over to the other two and all three of them start arguing with each other, though it’s all lighthearted, Renjun can tell. He smiles, fond of the sight of the three laughing and playfully teasing themselves. It must be nice to have close friends like they do, he thinks, not quite noticing that Jaemin is eagerly signalling for him to join, too.

“Renjun, come on—”

A shrill shriek fills Renjun’s ears. In terms of direction, it’s coming from not too far away down below, likely the grass fields where lots of students tend to play catch-ball or football. Probably just some kids getting too excited over their high-energy games.

But all of a sudden, Renjun can’t breathe. He can’t see anything but a growing darkness. He’s losing feeling in his legs, his arms, and now his face. _I feel faint,_ he thinks as his body gives way and lets his barely conscious weight be pulled down to the ground. A five-story freefall.

The air is cool as it slams against his flailing limbs, his light locks dancing wildly. Before his eyes completely shut and his brain goes to sleep, he can vaguely make out the desperate scream of his name and a flash of bright orange-pink that veils him from the blinding sunlight.

_The screams—they were the worst part of it all. They mercilessly told him that he was a failure, that someone suffered in agony because he was a failure. He became terrified of screams no matter where, when or who it came from because they dragged him back to those jarring moments of disappointment, shame and guilt._

 

 

Silence. And warmth. Something soft is covering Renjun’s body. He shifts around—he’s laying down, too—until his lids twitch and open, just barely. It’s bright, but not because of the sun; they’re indoor white lights. He sees the frame of a bunk bed to his side and when he rolls onto his back, he’s faced with the wooden planks of a second bed above him. Strange—his bed is supposed to be the top bunk. So he isn’t waking up in the middle of the night because of a bad dream?

Slowly, his torso rises, elbows propping himself up. There’s a thick blanket covering himself, which he pulls down to see his school uniform without the blazer. At that same moment, he realizes he’s not alone in the room, and so does the other person present. Renjun, still drowsy, rubs his eyes. The person audibly gasps and quickly shuffles to the bed, kneeling down. 

Renjun looks to him. It’s Jeno, who looks as though he just saw a ghost.

“Renjun, are—are you okay?” he asks, hands gripping on the edge of the bed frame. He looks as though his arms are itching to reach out and grab Renjun, though they hold themselves back.

Renjun recalls what happened, why he’s laying in a bed that isn’t his own, why he was asleep without changing into pajamas. He lunges forward, arms wrapping underneath Jeno’s own limbs and hugging the broad chest tightly. Softly, he cries and hiccups. He cries and cries and cries, and Jeno feels the only appropriate thing to do is hug and rub his back and comfort, which is exactly what he does.

“It’s over now. You’re safe, see? Nothing scary’ll happen to you,” Jeno murmurs, resting his cheek against Renjun’s head. His shoulders and back quiver in the embrace of the athlete. He’s crying but whatever whimpers he makes are muffled by Jeno’s body. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

For a moment, Renjun pulls his face away from Jeno in order to lock eyes with him. His eyes and nose have gone red due to his crying, his lips still trembling gently. 

“Is there… something wrong with me?” he asks, a question that Jeno doesn’t know how to answer, nor one that he was expecting. Not even in the slightest. All he does is cup Renjun’s face in his hands, a gentle touch, and his thumbs rub circles onto the skin.

“No, Renjun. There’s nothing wrong with you. And I’m glad you’re okay.”

Renjun sniffs; his eyebrows crinkle and he takes in quick, sharp breaths, a precedent to him bursting into tears yet again. His face dives into Jeno’s body once again, not minding the amount of tears that are dampening his uniform. “Okay,” mutters Renjun shakily. Jeno sighs and rubs his back comfortingly. 

Whatever happened with Renjun, it was sudden and unexpected. Jeno was chatting with Jisung about why his coach wanted to speak with him when, before he realized it, Jaemin was screaming Renjun’s name. Jeno looked over to see the last of Renjun’s arms reaching out from the edge of the balcony, while the rest of his body was missing. Immediately, Jaemin dove after Renjun. Jeno knew it was _serious_ by then. 

Even in the midst of his confusion, the werewolf shifted into his animal form and dashed throughout the campus, searching for the scent of Doyoung, knowing he’d be able to help with Renjun. Shapeshifting into a non-human form anytime on campus is actually against the school’s policies, so of course Jeno was eventually caught by a teacher and had his name written on a list for detention. But he didn’t mind; running as a werewolf was the fastest way he could get to Doyoung, after all. And he wasn’t alone in the act, either. Doyoung had the same thought process and transformed into a little hare that dashed alongside Jeno to the balcony. 

On the way there, they came across Jisung, who had evidently also been running from his heavy panting. He informed the two that Jaemin was transporting Renjun to his and Doyoung’s dorm room and that he wanted Jeno specifically to be there. 

Jeno thought about Jaemin at that time. About how he would save Renjun from a fall like that, how it must’ve happened in front of everyone’s attention from the field. 

Jeno was anxious. The well-being of not just one, but two of his friends was being compromised. 

“Jaemin…” he hears the one in his arms muttering between sniffles and hiccups. Come to think of it, he hasn’t seen the sprite at all ever since the incident. Jeno imagines he needs time to collect his own thoughts and calm himself down, considering… 

“He’s alright,” Jeno reassures the other. Renjun shakes his head, which perplexes the werewolf. What does that mean? Renjun is now looking up to Jeno, wiping away tears with the back of his hand.

“Was that really Jaemin?”

Jeno’s heart drops. “I…”

Someone knocks on the door. It swings open and Doyoung is holding onto the handle with one hand, a plastic bag in the other. Jeno catches the scent of food, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since lunch—and werewolves are _not_ happy when hungry for long. At the sight of the boys still partially embracing each other, Doyoung merely looks away, closing the door securely behind him. “I grabbed something for you two to eat,” he says, pushing up his glasses. He puts the bag on the desk and stops to take a look at Renjun.

“Are you alright?” asks the class president, crouching besides Jeno. “This is our room, by the way. You’re just sleeping in my bed.”

Renjun slowly nods more out of obligation rather than him actually saying he’s okay. Doyoung reaches over and places his palm on Renjun’s forehead; the boy simply watches him, dazed. It takes a couple of seconds for the elder to study him before exhaling softly.

“No fever. At least you’re not sick,” Doyoung whispers, taking out something from his blazer’s pocket and handing it to Renjun. It’s a small cloth bag filled with various herbs. “It’s from Kun. He thought you might’ve fainted from stress; the herbs apparently help ease your mind. He wanted to take care of you but he’s too busy tonight.”

Holding up the herbs, Renjun sniffs them. “For tea?” Doyoung nods. Jeno gets up to search through the food the senior brought for them, grabbing a tuna sandwich and handing it to Renjun, who accepts it with a weak smile. Admittedly, he’s rather hungry too. He’s not sure how long he’s been asleep, but he guesses the food delivery means it’s already past regular dinner time for students. “Thanks, Doyoung. Can you also tell Kun I said thanks if you see him?”

“You’re welcome, and will do,” says Doyoung, smiling. With a groan, he gets up by pushing off his knees. “I have some errands to attend to still, but I’ll be finished in an hour or so. If you need anything, let Jeno know and he’ll run over to let me know. Isn’t that right, champ?”

Jeno rolls his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.”

Doyoung chuckles. “Good. Take care of Renjun for me, please,” he says, making his way to the door. Jeno’s voice stops him in his tracks, though.

“Hey, have you seen Jaemin anywhere? He’s been gone since the thing happened.”

This makes Doyoung’s expression turn oddly. “Gone? I just saw him standing outside this room right before I came in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to let you guys know that i've actually written [another fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22522045/chapters/53817760) on a separate account (i made a 2nd account some time ago for personal reasons) and encourage you to check it out if you're interested! it's essentially about donghyuck being a super rambunctious 10 year old prince, doyoung being his newest royal attendant, and their adventures around the palace (don't worry, i will try my best to update both of them in a timely fashion...!)
> 
> you can also send me any comments/questions to [my cc](https://curiouscat.me/comradez) now! i'm also active on nct (dream) twitter at @renjuntoes. that's about it! thank you so much for your reads, kudos, comments, etc. and i hope you enjoy my stories even in the upcoming future :)


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